By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore visited historic Bethel AME Church in Cambridge, Maryland, on Juneteenth where he unveiled Just Communities – a $400 million initiative aimed at reducing the racial wealth gap.
Moore said his administration will target state investments which help reduce decades of discriminatory policies including redlining, urban highway construction and mass incarceration. On that same day, June 19, Moore signed an executive clemency order that will make nearly 7,000 citizens currently living under the cloud of misdemeanor charges on simple cannabis possession cases eligible for pardon.
He added that breaking the news on Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the effective end of slavery in the United States, was not an arbitrary decision but one made by design.
“I chose Juneteenth intentionally because in many ways it’s a celebration that includes contradictions,” Moore said. “Of course, we acknowledge the freedom that finally came for enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, and other parts of the state on June 19, 1865. But freedom was also a loose term because it had limits.
“Freedom for the newly freed former slaves did not include the ability for them to generate wealth [commensurate to their former enslavers] and to pass that wealth on to their children. I felt it was appropriate to use Freedom Day [another name for Juneteenth] as an entrée to both introduce and discuss some of the most aggressive actions ever taken in our state’s history to reduce the racial wealth gap.”
During the announcement, Moore approved the official first Just Communities – 419 of Maryland’s 1,463 census tracts – which will receive a five-year designation and priority consideration for competitive Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) state funding, up to $400 million in fiscal year 2026 existing funds.
Moore said the Just Communities designations, which go into effect on July 1, will create opportunities for neighborhoods that have been historically underserved and right the wrongs of the past, when the state systematically excluded certain groups from equal participation in the benefits of public resources.
“Just Communities is an integral part of my administration’s Work of Repair initiative which is all about access, inclusion and wealth,” the governor said. “And while we face inevitable budget cuts and a $3 billion deficit, we’re proving that you can be fiscally responsible and disciplined in this current budget and do the work of repair. We’ve approved tax cuts for the middle class and appropriated capital for the Just Communities all in the name of this ongoing initiative.”
More about the Just Communities and how it works
Based on the Just Community designation legislation (House Bill 241/Senate Bill 308), which created a new geographic data layer to target state investment, a potential Just Community must have past and current economic and housing trends that demonstrate a need for reinvestment in the area.
It must also demonstrate that the community has been impacted by forms of legal racial segregation such as redlining, urban renewal or highway projects, high state imprisonment rates, or unequal exposure to environmental and health hazards.
Seventeen of Maryland’s 24 counties and the City of Baltimore have qualifying Just Communities census tracts. Counties with the highest number of qualifying census tracts include Baltimore City, 167; Prince George’s, 89; Baltimore, 49; and Montgomery, 36.
Moore expressed confidence that the Just Communities initiative could serve as a model for other states.
“Maryland is not alone in the history of government and private sector colluding to take wealth from Black communities and rob them of opportunities,” he said. “Maryland, like many other states, has a complicated history and I believe we are showing other states that we have a model worth considering and implementing.”
Cannabis pardons extend Moore’s second chance policies
In June 2024, Moore signed an executive order granting pardons for more than 175,000 convictions for simple cannabis possession and certain misdemeanor convictions for possession of drug paraphernalia. The action represented the largest state-level pardon for such convictions in the country.
At the time, Moore said the pardons, automatically applied to eligible individuals and requiring no action from them, were issued to address the disproportionate impact of past cannabis criminalization on communities of color and remove barriers to housing, employment and education.
However, it was later determined that several thousand cases were missed due to data coding errors which have since been identified during the implementation of the Expungement Reform Act. But on Juneteenth, Moore rectified those omissions with the announcement of an additional 6,938 pardons for those convicted for simple cannabis possession.
“When people ask me why now, I say the time is always right to address historical wrongs and do what is just,” Moore said. “This is the season, not of studying, but of action and to focus on the work of repair. The Just Communities and the pardons I’ve ordered both represent my commitment to repairing past wrongs. That should be our focus.”
Recently, some of Moore’s Democratic colleagues criticized his decision to veto the forming of a commission that would have examined the historical ramifications of slavery and considered the implementation of reparations. In response to his latest announcement, the Legislative Black Caucus applauded Moore’s actions aimed at improving the lives of Maryland’s Black residents but also recommended that he reconsider the creation of the Maryland Reparations Commission.
“Throughout this term, we’ve been proud to partner with the governor’s administration to make unprecedented progress, including expanding access to state procurement for Black-owned businesses, expanding expungement of criminal convictions and working to make our justice system fairer,” the statement read. “As we celebrate Freedom Day and reflect on meaningful progress, we remain focused on our unfinished work.
“While the steps announced today are important, they do not replace the need for reparations.
Addressing the racial wealth gap, health disparities, our unequal justice system, housing access and education outcomes requires a comprehensive approach — and reparations must be central to that effort.”
