CSUS 2024 Juneteenth Symposium. (Photo: cal state.edu)
CSU Sacramento’s Inaugural Juneteenth Event: ‘Inspirational’ or a Breeding Ground for Bigotry?
Experiencing racism, known as ‘Racial battle fatigue,’ can ’cause headaches, and even increases the risk of cancer’
By Vince Lundgren, June 16, 2025 7:53 am
California State University Sacramento’s inaugural Juneteenth event was held June 2024 titled: “Let Freedom Ring: Breaking Chains and Elevating to New Heights.”
CSUS says, “Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 17th, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law establishing June 19th as a federal holiday to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States, which is now also a paid holiday for the CSU systemwide.”
The CSUS Juneteenth event claimed university “presses forward to become a national leader in supporting Black student success.” It claimed to was to motivate and inspire, but videos from the event show something quite different.
First, Dr. Ibram Kendi, an antiracist scholar, mocked an 8th grade classmate from Ghana for being a refugee but blamed this behavior on “internalized ideas… from white people.”
Here’s Dr. Kendi’s $30,000 contract for his speech, acquired through public records requests.
Second, Dr. Yaba Blay, a scholar-activist, public speaker and cultural consultant, says that the word “white” should not be capitalized, “because to do so is to imbue it with power.”
That sounds nice, let’s hear why.
She claims white people share a culture of oppression, and that by capitalizing the word “White” serves as a reminder to Black people that this is how whites organize themselves.
Third, Nikole Hannah-Jones Jones, creator of the 1619 Project, claims that treating people the same is bad because blacks don’t currently have equality. So treating her the same means she will never have equality. Notably, CSU Sacramento has a Black Honors College, a black president, and she’s at a pro-black event.
Here is Nikole Hannah-Jones contract for $36,000—the highest amount paid to any of the speakers.
Fourth is CSU Sacramento’s president, Luke Wood, Ph.D.
Dr. Wood who explains that a study by a colleague claims that experiencing racism, known as “Racial battle fatigue,” can cause headaches, and even increases the risk of cancer.
This is Dr. Wood saying that the vast majority of his faculty members have never been trained to teach, but instead teach from a “Eurocentric paradigm that doesn’t align with the needs of black students.”
At the beginning of this article I mentioned that the event claims to “motivate & inspire.”
Here is the event being promoted as such on local news:
Currently CSU Sacramento is facing $45 million dollars in budget cuts, “The biggest component, the president explained, were pay raises for California State University employees in 2024.”
CSU Sacramento states they “are working diligently to become a nationwide leader in Black student outreach, recruitment, enrollment, persistence, success and graduation. Our inaugural Juneteenth Symposium was only the beginning of our commitment to lasting change. The CSU has since formed a Black Student Success workgroup, which recently issued forward-thinking recommendations for championing inclusive excellence, closing equity gaps and advancing social mobility for Black students across our system. While there is still much work to be done, we are not intimidated by the hill we must climb. Learn how the CSU is dedicated to transforming inspiration into action.”
Here is the link to the Juneteenth event. I was unable to find out how the entire event was funded, despite filing a public records request asking for this information. I have not received an answer from the university.
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November 25, 2019
Dear Ya-bla-bla,
You have left English writers no choice but to always organize “White” into a sentence, first.
The catalyst behind this questionable event seems to stem from CSU, Sacramento’s president, Dr. Jonathan Luke Wood, who has been laughably described as a “systemic-racism scholar.” His background in the social sciences probably contributed to his radicalism? He has bachelor’s degree in Black History and Politics, a master’s degree in Higher Education Leadership at CSU, Sacramento, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with an emphasis in Higher Education from Arizona State University.
It’s interesting that he and his twin brother Joshua were adopted by what was describe as a loving White family. He sounds much like former San Francisco 49er football player Colin Kaepernick who also became radicalized after being adopted and raised by White parents?
His Black focused initiatives and leadership decisions have brought much controversy at CSU, Sacramento and one of the main points of contention involves his push to transform CSUS into a “BCU” (Black College or University) without the historical designation typically associated with HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). His primary emphasis on Black initiatives does not align with the broader demographic needs of a growing diverse student population, particularly in a state like California, where the Black population is relatively small compared to other racial and ethnic groups.
University funds should instead be directed toward general student success and advising rather than specific racial or ethnic programs? Maybe civil rights lawsuits should be filed?
It’s not surprising that Dr. Wood would recruit his cronies for this Juneteenth event at the university and give them exorbitant speaking contracts even though CSU Sacramento is facing $45 million dollars in budget cuts? It’s all part of the race hustling grift and graft paid for by taxpayers?
If Nicole Hannah-Jones doesn’t have equity for spending a small fraction of her day and raking in $36,000, then what the hell is she doing with her money?
I personally do not know any WHITE people making $36,000 to give a short speech.
As a Sac State alumni, I’ve seen this leftist woke and race focused nonsense going on for years with these university presidents and Wood is the worst of them. It’s the reason why I refuse to be involved or donate to the Sac State Alumni Association. I’d never send my kids to Sac State.
–“People sometimes ask if I have tried to convince Black ‘leaders’ to take a different view on racial issues. Of course not! I wouldn’t spend my time trying to persuade the Mafia to give up crime. Why should I spend time trying to convince race hustlers to give up victimhood? It’s their bread and butter.” Thomas Sowell