In honor of Juneteenth this year (Saturday, June 19th), ASPET is launching our new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) webpage.
Juneteenth (a portmanteau of June nineteenth) commemorates the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. This holiday honors the end to slavery in the United States, and many states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday. On June 15th, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution establishing June 19th as Juneteenth National Independence Day. As of this writing, the measure still needs to pass the House and be signed by President Biden to become law.
ASPET’s new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion webpage will serve as a home for our own DEI journey. We will post resources, perspectives, news updates, and other items that highlight the importance of DEI in both pharmacology and the broader biomedical sciences. ASPET also recently created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force which will lead our efforts to identify and dismantle barriers to full participation and develop strategies to embrace and leverage diversity and create a more equitable and inclusive society. More information about the DEI Task Force will be available in the June issue of The Pharmacologist.