Knowledge is Power
A history of Juneteenth and why it’s important to continue to learn from our past.
Every year, I find myself hearing about independence in the U.S. during our national holiday. It’s a spectacle of red, white, and blue along with barbeque, fireworks, and remembrance. When I was in elementary school there was usually a classroom party and all through my education we took the day to discuss our history.
It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I learned about another independence day — Juneteenth. It is a culmination of freedom tied to deep historical roots and remembrance, but it is nowhere nearly as recognized as Independence Day. June 19th marks the anniversary of the freeing of enslaved people at the end of the Civil War.
You won’t find fireworks bursting in the air, but instead a call to understanding of what Juneteenth signifies, along with the importance of making sure it is recognized.
How did Juneteenth come to be?
During the Civil War, President Lincoln drafted a document that would change the course of the war: The Emancipation Proclamation. Northern soldiers were no longer just fighting for the preservation of the Union, but for the ending of slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in the Confederacy free, however, it was conditional. Since Lincoln did not technically have direct control over the enslaved people he was freeing, the Confederate states chose not to adhere to the Proclamation and slaves in those states remained unfree. Parts of the Confederacy were also exempted because they had already come under Union (or Northern) control. Chief among the contingencies was the fact that freedom depended on Union military victory.
Artwork of General Gordon Granger, 1861 from an issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Almanac. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
As U.S. federal troops advanced, the range of freedom expanded. The Proclamation allowed Black men to be accepted into the Union Army and Navy, allowing the “liberated to become liberators.” Almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors fought for the Union and freedom. In the end, Texas was one of the last places that slavery existed in the South. Two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, about 1,800 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to ensure that all enslaved people were freed. On that day, General Gordon Granger read General Orders No. 3 and said:
“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 personal rights and rights of property between former master and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
That day was June 19, 1865, which came to be known as Juneteenth. About 250,000 people learned of their freedom that day, and from then onward, it became a day to honor the end of slavery in Texas. Juneteenth celebrations spread throughout the South and beyond as newly-freed Texans moved to different states. Texas was the first state to recognize June 19th as a state holiday with legislation. In December of that same year, 1865, the U.S. formally abolished slavery with the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
How is Juneteenth celebrated?
The first public Juneteenth celebrations happened in 1866. To mark the occasion, former slaves read the Emancipation Proclamation, sang spirituals, held games, and celebrated freedom. These traditions remained popular until the introduction of Jim Crow where Black people found themselves oppressed in every aspect of their lives. Imagine how difficult it must be to celebrate freedom when you don’t feel free. Despite opposition, the holiday remained. On June 19, 1968, Juneteenth saw a resurgence through the “Poor People’s March to Washington,” where Reverend Ralph Abernathy called on all people, from every race and walk of life, to come to Washington and show support for the poor.
Many people would return home and initiate Juneteenth celebrations where there previously were none. Today, primarily Black communities commemorate Juneteenth in varying ways from music to barbeques to prayer services. Steve Williams, president of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation says “the message of Juneteenth is a positive unifying one. Juneteenth is a unifying holiday. It is the completion of the celebration of freedom in America.” Keeping unity in mind, I’d argue that Juneteenth is important for everyone to recognize, not just the Black community.
Why is it important that we celebrate it now?
Just this week, Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday in the U.S. Prior to this week, it was recognized by 46 states and the District of Columbia, however, that still does not mean it is widely celebrated or known. I attended public schools here in the U.S., and it was not taught in general education. Juneteenth is widely considered more of a cultural celebration. I don’t hear white people discussing it, and from what I’ve seen, white people consider it a holiday for the Black community — if they know about it at all. However, discussing Juneteenth, learning about it, and celebrating it are all necessary in order to really confront our racist past and to grow as a country.
The ignoring of the systemic racism that is part of our American history allows us to blatantly avoid how those systems still affect the Black community today. After the end of the Civil War, the promised freedom was always undercut by other systemic issues and violence such as lynching, imprisonment, and Jim Crow laws. These issues were not isolated, and their racist motivation endured. Today, our systems continue to contribute to the disproportionate mass incarceration, discriminatory housing policies, and lack of economic investment within the Black community. The country was founded on racist beliefs and a ripple effect occurs today with acts of police violence and other racially-motivated injustices against Black people. Until we really begin to address our history, those barriers will endure.
A wall inside the new Legacy Museum, a project from the Equal Justice Initiative, shows how slavery’s effects are still felt in the present. The new museum opened on April 26, 2018. Credit: Human Pictures/Equal Justice Initiative
In an interview between P.R. Lockhart, staff writer for Vox, and Karlos Hill, a professor of African American Studies and author of “Beyond the Rope: The Impact of Lynching on Black Culture and Memory,” Hill was able to shed some light on why Juneteenth is important to recognize:
“One of the things that Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, has argued is that in order for us to move beyond slavery, its legacy, and the trauma it brought, we have to acknowledge the ways in which slavery generated massive amounts of wealth for white Americans, and how the narratives used to justify slavery are still connected with narratives that are used to oppress African Americans today. He argues that unless we acknowledge all of this, we are going to continue to face the consequences of this legacy...it wouldn’t be a Juneteenth holiday so much that would bring about this change; it would be the dialogue — creating the consensus around the holiday, the actions taken after this holiday has been approved at the national level — that would really be where the change begins.”
Juneteenth would therefore be a great starting point to address our past and create dialogues from which we can begin to grow. Hill points out that many people still believe that the Civil War wasn’t about slavery and that some people still look at the Civil War through the lens of the Confederate soldiers and states. Juneteenth presents an opportunity to understand the Civil War through the eyes of the enslaved people. If we were to step back and take accountability for the hundreds of years of mistreatment, we could begin to unpack the issues that undergird our present system.
How does accountability foster growth?
Juneteenth is a celebration, but it also serves as a reminder of trauma that was inflicted on millions of people. This reminder is not just one for Black people, but rather, it is also important for white people. By dismissing our history of enslavement of Black people, we are ignoring the ways in which our past informs our present.
On Juneteenth we should remember the people who were and are still being affected by the history of enslavement in this country. How sinister is it that at the same time in which we’re making Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday, we’re also condemning Critical Race Theory and preventing people from learning our true history?
Congress Member Karen Ruth Bass tweets about our pattern of denying our history in the U.S.
Just this week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that will severely limit teachers’ ability to address racism in the classroom. The same has been echoed in Florida. Critics of critical race theory posit that it will teach children and adults to essentially hate the country, however, this is not the case.
Studying history supports our ability to analyze and explain problems of the past, thus enabling us to see patterns that might otherwise be invisible in the present. History thereby provides a crucial perspective for understanding, and solving current societal problems. Learning our history will be instrumental in the destruction of oppressive systems.
Keep learning, keep challenging local and federal governments. This country was built on oppression; make no mistake, our systems are not broken, they’re functioning exactly how they’re intended to. Juneteenth is a time for all of us to not only celebrate, but reflect and learn, and most importantly, to take action. Today is a reminder to continue demanding progress.
As the saying goes: the truth shall set you free.
