“It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” —Assata Shakur

Juneteenth and Justice: The Legacy of Racist Tax Policy

On June 19, 1865—more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation—enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, finally received word that they were free. Juneteenth marks the day federal troops enforced the end of slavery in the last Confederate state. But in reality, that freedom didn’t come with full rights, safety, land, or opportunity. The 13th Amendment, ratified a few months later on Dec. 6, 1986, formally abolished slavery—but with a loophole: it allowed slavery and involuntary servitude “as a punishment for a crime.” That exception clause created a legal basis for the continued forced labor of incarcerated people, a practice that persists to this day and disproportionately impacts Black communities. And still, the promise of that freedom remains unfulfilled.

Since then, Juneteenth has been a celebration of Black liberation—and a reminder of the systems that delay, deny, and distort it. It’s a day to reflect on survival, joy, and resistance. But it also demands that we name the uncomfortable truth: the end of chattel slavery was not the end of racial exploitation. It just changed form.

Today, capitalism, tax policy, and economic systems still function as tools of racial control. And while it might be uncomfortable to say that out loud, we can’t move forward unless we do. If we’re going to talk about freedom, we also have to talk about how the U.S. economy was built—who it benefits, who it exploits, and why.

That’s why we’ve partnered with Soul 2 Soul Sisters, a Black-led spiritual and political organizing collective, to examine the racist roots of tax policy, the legacy of exploitation, and the work of repair.

After Emancipation Came Retaliation: How Racist Tax Codes Took Root

During Reconstruction, Black Americans began building power—holding office, founding schools, fighting for public goods. But that progress sparked a coordinated and violent backlash. That backlash came through lynchings and Jim Crow laws—but it also came through tax policy.

In the late 1800s, most local services were funded by property taxes. Because newly freed Black families didn’t own land, white lawmakers slashed property tax rates and capped revenue growth, gutting public institutions Black legislators were trying to build. This wasn’t just about money—it was about power. Undermining Black-led governance became a fiscal project. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities gives the following examples: 

• In Mississippi, a delegate at the 1890 constitutional convention said the quiet part out loud. He wanted tax rules that would “effectually remove… the unpatriotic negro” from politics. That same year, Mississippi created the first modern sales tax, which shifted the tax burden off of white property owners and onto consumers—disproportionately Black households with low incomes.
  
• In Alabama, constitutional conventions in 1875 and 1901 imposed extreme limits on property taxes to prevent Black political coalitions from raising funds for public education. More than a century later, those restrictions are still on the books—and Alabama now raises the least property tax revenue per capita in the U.S.
  
• In Kentucky, state law in the early 1900s allocated property taxes to segregated schools based on the taxpayer’s race. White taxes funded white schools. Black taxes funded Black schools. Since Black families had less property to tax, the result was built-in educational apartheid.
  
• In California, during the Gold Rush, immigrant miners—especially Chinese and Latinx miners—were charged special taxes. U.S.-born white miners were exempt. At its peak, this tax accounted for over a quarter of California’s state revenue.

This Isn’t Just History. These Systems Still Shape Our Lives.

Today, state and local tax systems in 41 states are still regressive, or upside-down: lower-income households pay a larger share of their income in taxes than the wealthy do. Since Black and brown families are overrepresented in lower income brackets, the impact is disproportionately racialized.

In Colorado:

• People of color are overrepresented in tax brackets that pay the highest share of their income in state and local taxes.
  
• The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) makes it nearly impossible to raise revenue—even when Coloradans vote to support schools, transit, or healthcare. Locked into the constitution, much like Alabama’s tax constraints, TABOR calcifies an unequal system of taxation, strips local communities of power to control their finances, and limits Colorado’s ability to respond to need.
  
• The Gallagher Amendment, repealed in 2020, gave tax protections to homeowners (who are disproportionately white) and shifted costs onto commercial property—many located in more diverse communities.
  
• Our flat income tax and heavy reliance on sales taxes mean wealthier households in Colorado pay proportionally less.

And unlike many other states, Colorado’s constitution bans a graduated income tax, which is one of the best tools we have to create a fairer tax system. Unless we amend the constitution, we’re stuck with this inequitable structure.

Tax Policy Isn’t Race-Neutral, And Never Has Been

From audits to asset building, tax policy continues to disadvantage Black families and communities:

• Black taxpayers are more likely to be audited by the IRS due to algorithmic bias and the agency’s focus on refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit.
  
• Black families are less likely to own homes, which means they miss out on mortgage interest deductions and other tax subsidies for wealth-building.
  
• Black workers are overrepresented in low-wage, high-risk jobs that don’t come with retirement accounts or health benefits—many of which receive preferential tax treatment for wealthier, white-collar workers.
  
• Black women and gender-expansive people are among the most exploited in the workforce, disproportionately represented in care and domestic labor that is essential, but routinely undervalued and underpaid.

Capitalism doesn’t just rely on inequality—it manufactures and maintains it. And tax policy helps it do so.

Black Resistance Has Always Included Economic Justice

The fight for racial justice has always included demands for economic justice—from the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to the Black Panther Party’s free clinics and breakfast programs, to the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom, organized by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. This tradition continues today through Black-led unions, mutual aid networks, cooperatives, and policy organizing.

As Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry, puts it: “Capitalism may not fall in our lifetimes, and it is not redeemable, so the work is to begin to reclaim your body and your time in ways that seem impossible to imagine.”

Capitalism may not fall in our lifetimes, and it is not redeemable, so the work is to begin to reclaim your body and your time in ways that seem impossible to imagine.”—Tricia Hersey

Pride, Capitalism, and the Margins of the Margins

During Pride Month, we must also name the ways the tax system—and capitalism more broadly—erases and harms LGBTQIA+ people, especially those who are Black, brown, trans, or undocumented. When benefit structures exclude chosen families, when housing discrimination and healthcare gaps persist, and when queer people are funneled into the informal or underpaid economy, they are subject to the same cycles of exploitation and exclusion. 

There’s Another Way Forward

Colorado has already taken some bold steps. In 2020, we passed House Bill 1420, also known as the Tax Fairness Act, closing corporate tax loopholes and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC)—two of the most effective, race-conscious anti-poverty tools available.

But more is needed:

• We must reform TABOR and our constitution to allow a fairer tax code.
• We must expand investments in housing, education, and healthcare.
• We must stop pretending that tax policy is neutral and start designing it with equity in mind.

The Fight Continues: What’s Happening Right Now

This Juneteenth, our fight feels even more urgent. Congress is currently considering the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—a sweeping proposal that would gut healthcare, food assistance, and clean energy investments to give massive tax cuts to millionaires. If passed, the OBBBA would:

• Give Coloradans making $863,000+ a $70,000 tax break on average
• Strip healthcare from 180,000 Coloradans
• End SNAP for 159,000 families
• Eliminate more than 7,000 clean energy jobs

It’s one of the most devastating wealth transfers in recent history—from working families to the ultra-wealthy. This isn’t about fiscal responsibility. It’s about protecting privilege and punishing the poor. And unless we push back, it could become law.

What You Can Do

• Learn the history of race and tax policy in Colorado
• Support Black-led organizations and grassroots organizing in Colorado (List)
• Register for Soul 2 Soul Sister’s Facing Racism Cohort starting Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025.
• Join the Colorado Fiscal Institute’s Tax Ambassadors Program
• Fight for constitutional reform and equitable tax structures
• Practice rest and mutual aid as acts of resistance
• Vote and organize with economic justice in mind

We can’t just celebrate Juneteenth—we have to fight like hell to make its promise real. Another world is possible. Let’s build it.