Juneteenth marks the end of Slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865 when final federal orders reached Texas. Juneteenth is a national celebration commemorating the official ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19th, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended and all slaves were free. However, this news came 2 ½ years after President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863. Since there was a shortage of Union Troops to enforce the Executive Order stipulating the Emancipation Proclamation, the news came late to many slaves. With the surrender of General Lee in 1865, the troops felt liberated enough to deliver the good news and ride out to sound the alarm of ubiquitous freedom.
Due to the delay in the announcement of the official Emancipation of the slaves, many version of the news yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. (History of Juneteenth, 2021). Many stories have evolved over the years regarding the official announcement of freedom on the way to Texas, from messengers being killed to slave owners withholding the announcement in order to continue servitude on the plantations to reap final cotton harvests. General Granger read Order Number 3 which stipulated the following:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights of property between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer” (History of Juneteenth, 2021).
The Juneteenth Webinar was an amazing and thought provoking discussion involving distinguished panelists from various Universities in Maryland. The discussion began with the moderator asking about the Historical Significance of Juneteenth. Dr. Cook Bell of Bowie State University stated that, Juneteenth is also known as “Jubilee Day” where General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce the good news to the enslaved. Interesting to note that the following States: Maryland, Kentucky, Delaware and Missouri did not honor the Emancipation Proclamation, however abided by the 13th Amendment of 1865, which freed slaves in these States. Slavery officially ended December 1865.
The Battle of Palmetto Ranch also known as the Battle of Palmetto Hill is considered by many as the final battle of the American Civil War. This was the last war involving casualties and was fought on May 12-13, 1865 in Brownsville, Texas.
How is Juneteenth Commemorated?
Juneteenth has long been celebrated within the African America Church such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) via parades, cookouts, festivals and at Community Centers (Maryland National Park and Planning Commission or the MNCPP-C), in the District of Columbia (DC) in Anacostia at the Anacostia Museum through Exhibitions, Workshops, Watch Night Services.
Traditionally, “Watch Night” Services or New Year’s Eve (NYE) Services are critical because December 31 the slaves would pray and fast through the night until the morning of January 1st, 1865 when the Emancipation Proclamation was officially ratified. Other celebratory methods include local musical artists in concert, having delicious barbeques with family and friends and celebrating in traditional foods such as black eyes peas, strawberry pie and red velvet cake with red strawberry soda drink. The barbeque foods, fried chicken, deserts and red drink symbolized the food the slaves did not have access to and the color red is representative of the struggles, perseverance and sacrificial blood shed of their ancestors and families that had been consumed by racial injustices.
Why was there not previous awareness with regards to Juneteenth?
Dr. Johnson used the analogy of the onion. Many African Americans do not want to peel back the layers of the history of Black History. Like an onion, as you peel and cut the outer layers and get closer to the center, your eyes begin to water and tears fall, tears of pain fall therefore African Americans do not like to remember the trauma and pain of slavery. We want feel good, fuzzy stories but don’t want to acknowledge the dichotomies like the Civil Rights Movement of Martin Luther King, Jr. but we do not want to think about the wire taps and J. Edgar Hoover. We like to reminisce about Rosa Parks and the positive outcomes of her stance but don’t want to remember Claudette Colvin, who was arrested prior to Rosa Parks. (She was not revered because she was an unmarried teenage mother). What about the Tuskegee Airmen and Eleanor Roosevelt (who rode with the Airmen but subsequently were the test subjects of the syphilis experiment that injured and destroyed their lives). Dr. Johnson contrasted this to the current C19 vaccination concerns. Lastly, Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison., Douglass’ mentor and friend. Both men were anti-slavery but had personal dissension and disagreements.
Consequently, African Americans have been forced to address the traumas of today and the past. Conversations about this and Juneteenth and more should have been addressed and discussed. We must have these conversations so we can connect to the legacy and tragedies of today. An awareness is taking place. We must understand that history will allow us to connect the past with the present. For example, injustices such as George Floyd and Ahmad Arbory and Brianna Taylor have been happening it just so happened that people such as Emmitt Tills mother were brave enough to speak about injustice and put his lynching and death on display as a conscious collective awareness for the world to see. We have been conditioned to accept injustices as common place.
Should Juneteenth be made into a National Holiday?
The House passed the Bill into law making Juneteenth a Federal Holiday on June 16, 2021. Trump was met with controversy during his term when he tried to make Juneteenth a Holiday. Biden signed the Bill making Juneteenth a Holiday on June 17, 2021. The discussion went deeper as Dr. Freeman discussed how he felt ambivalent about Juneteenth becoming a Federal Holiday. I enjoyed his perspectives on how he expressed concerned for the future of black America in that these junctures can be viewed as one dimensional. Meaning that we don’t discuss or debate the origins of Juneteenth- it’s just made into a National/Federal Holiday, yet we flatten or mitigate the importance of Black History Month. He feels that Government leaders will “wash their hands over” this historic event and expect African American to have a sense of satisfaction over this. I wondered myself, was this done in response to the injustices experienced by the proverbial mascot George Floyd and the George Floyd Act? Will this be the answer to the incessant questioning behind reparations and payment for the century long injustices suffered by so many generations of African Americans?? Dr. Freeman asked and contemplated was Juneteenth passed without a real response to injustices without a real explanation? I enjoyed Dr... Freeman’s stance on why he felt we were “given” Juneteenth as a holiday to shut Black America up and not explain any further about the multitude of racial inequities, injustices, bias and imbalances that we continue to experience. Biden’s “New Green Deal” has and will have a significant impact on the present state of America as well as the future of America in terms of energy, jobs, infrastructure, race relations, employment, immigration reform, technology and more. The Green New Deal affects major spending and is designed to with century old issues. Historic sites and Civic Organizations are working on actualizing the significance.
Juneteenth according to Dr. Freeman (and I allude to in my blog post on Memorial Day on my website www.getyourlife.online ) that Memorial Day was first recognized by slaves in response to the mass grave memorial sites of Union soldiers in Charleston, South Carolina. Interestingly enough, George Floyd passed on Memorial Day in 2020.
We must take a moment to rethink what does it mean to be an American?
We must not lose sight of what Juneteenth is about, there is so much more to be done. There is an opportunity to challenge the 156th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Dr. Edwin Johnson of Morgan State University challenged Dr. Freeman’s stance and dissented by stating Juneteenth is a starting point for America. Slavery never truly ended and it is evident in the segregation that he experienced being bussed across town to attend another school 10-15 miles away. Dr. Johnson discusses the juxtapositions: sharecropping. Convict leasing, (which existed after slavery where Southern States leased prisoners to private railways, mines and large plantations. In the meantime, States profited and prisoners faced inhumane conditions without pay). Reference the “Just Mercy” Book by Brian Stevenson a book of redemption and justice and the movie starring Michael B. Jordan. I enjoyed and conferred with Dr. Johnson’s stance that slavery still exists in the form of imprisonment, COVID, poverty, welfare, social injustice, socio economic injustice, educational injustice and job disparities and gender disparities and more. Dr. Johnson asks, “Do we have the courage to deal with the 2 years that people should have been free?” Slavery and injustice is taking a different look and form in 2021 in the form of legal and systematic and financial injustices to name a few.
In closing, 47 states made Juneteenth a Holiday and acknowledge the impact of slavery. Juneteenth is a form of resistance, and I completely entreat and support that Juneteenth could be regarded as a day of “mourning”….. This was a fascinating perspective…. Do you agree???? These concepts are overlooked in school.
In closing, Tulsa, Oklahoma can be seen as a microcosm in the scheme of racial tensions on the national, broad scale. We have desegregated our schools. It has took on a different form in forms of cross city bussing, chartered schools and separations.
How can other cultures celebrate Juneteenth?
Through conversations, Diversity Trainings, (what I suggested) Awareness, Community and Church events, use your individual voices, “Say something, See something” think about what it means to be “white” as a mindset and critical practiced and developed.
What do you think?
I want to take this time to recognize my amazing Professor Dr, DR for bringing this awareness in light of her position as a woman who is not of the African American culture and I so enamored and grateful that she has taken the time to bring this awareness to our class …… I thank you immensely and give you virtual hugs for your cognizance and awareness!!! God bless you!
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