Despite the far-right's demonization of black history inspired holidays and celebrations, Juneteenth serves as a reminder of the progress we have made in this country, despite more being needed, especially during this time. We celebrate this day in harmony with everyone in this country and abroad.
The far right has exhibited vitriol for this day becoming a Federal holiday. They see it as “woke” gone mad, as a slap in the face at their heritage and race, and they denigrate the time as just leftist garbage. They make ridiculous comparisons to celebrating white and confederate heritage. They say things like “Why can't we have a Federal White day?”.
Let me be clear and say this with intellectual emphasis. Holidays are times to celebrate progress and beneficial events in our country. This is not a black vs. white issue. Equally, I do not support reprarations for black folks. I do not think its fair to impose that on people that had nothing to do with events before. However, your ancestors have had their time, a time of freedom and santuary for 300 years and beyond. We celebrate Independence Day. A period celebrated where at the time, black folks were not independent. I would never consider that a “white” holiday, but it is utter disgrace to think that by us commemorating a time of coming out of the most horrible, and deadly period for our kind, that it minimizes your existence in any way. We black people can be proud of who we are and where we have come, and it in no way takes away from you as a person. Filling our jar, which has been empty for many years, does not siphon from yours. Goddamnit, let us have our moment for a day at least, maybe a few more. Its the least you can do without making it a “we vs. you” event.
For white folks, I mean this with all due respect. Me being black is in no way equivalent to you being white. You have never lived in my shoes and you will never truly understand racism in the same way I do. For any of these far right white folks, you have the right in your mind to think and say whatever you believe in. But your attempts to define racism is in and of itself racist and a slap in the face to minorities. How dare you! Until attributing to skin color and culture is completely obliterated from our society, we have to have the tiny tilt to put us on equal ground. That ever so slight tilt (i.e. DEI, social support, race critical theory, and black and minority historical context) is essential to make it fair for us. Study up on these things! You tend to speak out your keister on these topics, or you are simply ignorant or misinformed. For example, most DEI programs these days from corporations are awareness only. I know, I've been on the boards. They in no way discriminate against whites. Even in government and schools, DEI is about qualified candidates. They are not so much about quotas anymore. An organization has to be an extreme outlier to even be on the radar. If an organization is discounting qualifications, then they are cheating the system, period. And they still do, believe me. You can call it unfair but I would love to tell you personally about my experiences with fairness.
I hope we get there some day, a place where these social constructs are not necessary, but we are not there my friend. Especially in this MAGA age where the tide has been pulled back from progress. Peace!
– Laveda Jones
The Significance and Celebration of Juneteenth: A Symbol of Freedom and Resilience in African American History
1. Introduction
Every year on June 19th, African Americans celebrate their family history, community, and future, celebrating the significance of Juneteenth with grand food and entertainment. This date, declared a state holiday in Texas in 1980, was finally given national recognition in 1994, approximately 150 years after the historic events the date commemorates. With more Black people in the United States (US) elected to the federal, state, and local governments than at any time in our history, and during repeated uncertain legal and authoritative upheavals, the historical significance and timeliness of the celebration of Juneteenth is very prevalent. When freedom for a group of Black people was announced, it was not effective until June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and assuring that enslaved persons "will be hence forward and forever free." As we celebrate national holidays for Christopher Columbus, our revolutionary, former US presidents, war deaths, and religious holidays like Christmas and Easter, why is it that Juneteenth, which is akin to African American emancipation, has not been added to these most sacred collective holidays? This paper is a reflective one to introduce readers to the historical significance of the African American event and to encourage celebration and/or find ways to commemorate this historic event with friends.
1.1. Background and History of Juneteenth
Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas in 1980, and since then, 43 other U.S. states and the District of Columbia commemorated the date in some way. With the death of George Floyd Jr. in May 2020, and the subsequent global attention to the impact of systemic racism and police violence, there was a renewed recognition of Juneteenth across the U.S. with many companies recognizing the holiday for the first time. In December 2020, the United States Congress formally recognized the day as Juneteenth National Independence Day and President Joe Biden signed the bill officially making it a legal public holiday. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the meanings and significance of Juneteenth and compare this celebration to other emancipation holidays around the world. By understanding the value of Juneteenth, we can better celebrate and embrace its importance.
Juneteenth, short for June Nineteenth, marks the day that the last legal slaves were freed from Galveston, Texas following Union victory in the Civil War. General Gordon Granger, who had landed in Texas two days earlier with over 1,800 federal troops, issued the General Order Number 3 which declared, among other demands, freedom for the slaves. This date is especially important because the Emancipation Proclamation – the presidential executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln which declared that "all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free" – had become official 900 days earlier in 1863. However, although it became effective on January 1, 1863, not all slaves were immediately freed since enforcement relied on Union troop advances during the U.S. Civil War.
2. The Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth
Finally, on June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger disembarked with his soldiers at Galveston Island and during a public speech in the city, read General Orders Number 3, that declared that the people of Texas were informed about the executive order and that those who had been restricted of their freedom could remain on the plantations and work for their former masters, or they could leave in search of their own homes and work. This event is recognized as the beginning of what is known today as Juneteenth.
The celebration of this date started in Texas and is one of the oldest and culturally deep celebratory actions in the African American community. In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared over three million slaves were freed. However, many of them lived in remote outposts and the news did not reach all those slaves. It took more than two years to reach the slaves of Galveston, Texas where several thousand slaves lived.
2.1. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation
We frequently hear about President Lincoln and his actions, about the Emancipation Proclamation and its limitations, and about Juneteenth, but the facts become overlaid with embellishment and distortions. We romanticize what we would like to remember and minimize – or worse yet, omit – things we would rather not recall. If we attempt to hold a real conversation on historical events, such as the Emancipation Proclamation or other aspects of the Civil War era, we are devoid of knowledge and engage in a blizzard of mimicry and deception. Some of the historical markers in Texas, for instance, indicate that the slaves were informed of their freedom when it was time to take off the cotton. There are also paintings of smiling slaves who are told of their freedom "by the grace of their masters," somewhat akin to a child being given a big toy on their birthday. Similarly, there are those who insist upon documentation proving that Galveston is the equivalent of the next-to-last stop on a train that delivers major news, such as weddings or presidential assassinations.
"The principles of liberty and human equality were, in some form or another, assumed to be in the Declaration of Independence," said the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in 1858. "But everything our government assumed, such as expressly denying that those same principles were applied to African Americans." Before his presidency, serving as the president of the United States in 1860 at the start of the American Civil War, Lincoln fully understood that the issue of human bondage had to be addressed. He viewed the practice as morally wrong, instead of economically wrong, as most white Northerners did. However, he was not an abolitionist at all, and his plan was not to grant immediate freedom to all slaves. As the war dragged on, though, he had to confront the issue of slavery head-on. The Emancipation Proclamation, which he saw as being limited in scope, was his response. This move affected the entire nation, and specifically those people in Texas, who learned about the executive order on June 19, 1865: Juneteenth.
3. Juneteenth as a Symbol of Freedom
With the arrival of Major General SW Granger and his troops on June 19, 1865 everything changed. Suddenly, years of conflicting data were resolved, decisions pending for years were resolved, Confederate States of America soldiers and the State Militia were out of a job, states’ rights ceased to matter, the Commonwealth of Texas was no longer sovereign, the orders General Orders, Number 3 was met with general compliance (except 40,000 people which does not seem to have been characterized as an active act of defiance), and the ability of the Union Troops to persuade by use of force was removed. Put another way, the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment (as well as the 15th Amendment, the 14th Amendment, and the entire protected.) Milwaukee’s African American community was not known for being docile. Nor was it recognized as the quietest community in the city. Throughout the annual day of leisure, the former slaves made clear that instead of bowing, scraping, and being subservient (as law and custom dictated), being one who is free is to celebrate their freedom by any means necessary.
Juneteenth as a symbol of freedom is the most important meaning of the day. That the Civil War had ended became common knowledge once Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. The fact that the institution of slavery remained intact in Texas of all the Confederate States was the best kept secret in America. Spectacular logistics of the (inter)national event aside, the day was a day for celebrating freedom. And it was those celebrations, freed men and women declaring their right to celebrate freedom, which earned the title of Symbol of Freedom. Before that, Emancipation Day was September 22. In 1864, President Lincoln invited all slaves within the sound of his voice to flee to Union lines on that day. Two months later, the Militia Act, which was instrumental in allowing the creation of the United States Colored Troops Bill (USCT) was signed into law by President Lincoln. In 1865, January 31, saw the signing of the 13th Amendment by President Lincoln. Cut from the same cloth, each of these days speaks volumes of the significance of Juneteenth.
3.1. The Meaning of Freedom for Enslaved African Americans
The day of freedom meant vastly different things to enslaved African Americans compared to slaveholders and American whites. First and foremost was the opportunity to reunite with loved ones separated by bondage. Sara Martin, a former slave from DeKalb, Texas, pinpointed family connections as the most important aspect of emancipation. Bondage separated mothers from their children and families. Children "were separated," Denika, a former slave from Houston, Texas, remembered. Eighty-four-year-old Lydia Hamilton Smith, free at fourteen, vividly remembered the feelings and ceremonies her mother, who only knew the exact date and details of Lydia's birth, orchestrated with the news of freedom.
Overall, the celebration of June 19th offered a significant time worldwide, due to momentous occasions and vivid instances of African American resilience in the midst of despair. Enslaved African Americans were present during research, from slave narratives to interviews by the Works Progress Administration, Universal Negro Improvement Association Convention Proceedings, daily attendance, the writings of journalists and memoirs or autobiographies of prominent 19th-century black individuals. This created enormous opportunities to understand their experiences as they traveled from bondage to freedom. At the same time, primary sources provided evidence and examples of Juneteenth celebrations related to enslavement and emancipation. Combined, they allowed individuals to honor June 19th as a significant tradition with historical evidence.
4. Juneteenth Celebrations and Traditions
In my opinion, as more people become interested in this occasion, or the progress of African Americans, these states, and Canada as well, should support Juneteenth as an evolution of American mosaic with regard to arts, history, culture or religion. The historical significance of Juneteenth and the future challenges it represents are crucial to the civic development process, so the story of the historical challenge it represents will be very important in supporting social change. This approach is in line with how the importance of the start of the civil rights movement or the Voting Rights Act are represented in the museum. This will honor the courageous and pioneering African American women and men who were committed to the full and equal rights of everyone.
In 1980, Juneteenth became a legal state holiday in Texas, which is still known as the place with one of the largest and most vibrant Juneteenth celebrations in the country. The significance of Juneteenth in Texas was not limited to the state's African American citizens. It became a part of Texas's broader history as, in the 1990s, there was an effort in Texas to include the observance of Juneteenth in the storyline of how the state shaped the nation rather than keep it as the exclusive story of Texas's African American community. Following Texas, 41 other states have now recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday to honor the end of slavery, while only four states recognize it as a paid state holiday.
4.1. Historical and Modern Celebrations
Increased nationwide celebrations of Juneteenth will force acknowledgement by all other citizens of the United States that the enjoyment of freedom by the teeming generations of black Americans occurred under awful conditions of hard, forced labor that produced America's abundant wealth. Educational programs for all students, corporate acknowledgment of duty to remedy some of the results of the institution of slavery, and national recognition of the accomplishments of the United States’ African American citizens to our national history are only a few of the benefits that could flow from a national embrace of the annual celebration of the end of chattel slavery in the United States.
Although Juneteenth exists as a holiday dedicated to freedom, freedom is a historical part of African American life in the United States, as is injustice. We often think of freedom in an abstract sense, but freedom is actually tied to land, labor, and tangible opportunities. The earliest celebrations of Juneteenth involved black people feeling joyfully relieved of the day-to-day labor for their former enslavers. They no longer had to perform labor for their enslavers to gain enslaver confidence. They no longer had to avoid beatings by offering enslaved kinfolk to labor for more food and merciful treatment. Ham, chickens, savevh, and fish were all peered staples, not just foods for the 4th of July.
5. Juneteenth and the Civil Rights Movement
Juneteenth symbolizes something for native African Texans and people of African descent. African American political and social leaders, some of whom are descendants of former slaves, allow the atmosphere for the revival of Emancipation Day. The African American counter-narrative has refuted Hosea Stout's construction of an October 16th Emancipation Day in Texas. Texas and native African Texans were entering an era of postbellum silence regarding Juneteenth. Furthermore, the celebration of emancipation through the 1867 festivities is part of the new mythic order of triumph over oppression and resilience. These counter-narratives distinguished native Hebrews, freedmen, and the Children of Tarshish as American Africans, circumscribing another pattern of African American religion within the context of an African American church's commemoration. Another narrative about a "hot ticket" and a small, white dance at Milam Park is further accepted. However, redundant this particular idea may seem, the celebration of adulthood argues for including the 1867 Day of Jubilee in the list of Juneteenth festivities.
Juneteenth solidified as an important symbol of race pride for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The celebration was so significant to Texans that they took the day with them when they migrated. The push for Emancipation became a beneficial symbol of hard-won freedom during the Civil Rights Movement. Juneteenth and other Emancipation Day commemorations, and their emphasis on freedom, provided optimism and inspiration for the Civil Rights Movement, thereby lending them an even greater relevance. Through the efforts of former slaves such as Al Edwards and other descendants, and the attractive qualities to the broader African American community, Juneteenth has experienced a revival across the country. Its revival, precisely in southern states, can be seen as an important movement in redefining the parameters of citizenship. Its tricentennial in the year 2165 will provide an occasion to reflect upon the journey of the African American from the Middle Passage over these transacting 500 years.
5.1. Juneteenth's Influence on Civil Rights Activism
First, pre-civil rights era civil rights activism tends to be overlooked in economic analysis because the results are misleadingly based on a lack of statistical significance rather than a statement about the absence of activist influence on economic activity. When activist celebrations do not exhibit significant quantitative impacts on freedom and economic development, they are easily lost in the statistical "background noise" of unreported statistically insignificant findings. Second, Juneteenth highlights the reawakening of freedom sentiments in the antebellum South and provides an opportunity to investigate values that may have persisted despite the considerable economic disadvantages that were incurred on account of holding such beliefs. The lack of any significant long-term economic influence does not suddenly make society disinterested in freedom, although such hopes would be embedded in the sociopolitical atmosphere at a private level.
Today, Juneteenth marks the freedom and resilience of a number of African Americans who have made significant contributions to society. To prompt public memories of this African American history, various Juneteenth celebrations are held in African American communities. The current paper investigated whether the pre-civil rights activism celebration of Juneteenth endured in the black-white income gap. The results showed that Juneteenth significantly and negatively influenced the black-white income gap. Additionally, the statistical decomposition results revealed significant impacts during the period of 1940–1950s and the 2000s, while the identifications by intervals of social, economic, and historical characteristics suggested Juneteenth selected in the former. These findings highlight the significance of Juneteenth in improving our understanding of pre-civil rights era civil rights activism in the United States.
6. The Significance of Juneteenth in Contemporary Society
While the people of Galveston and many other Texan communities celebrated Juneteenth annually, it wasn't until the civil rights movement of the 1950s and the marches and demonstrations that it began to gain growing recognition and support. The Poor People's March in 1968 is what launched Juneteenth into formal recognition. Through the effort and support of Ms. Opal Lee, President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Smithsonian Institution, and major retail giant organizations, the state of Texas finally recognized Juneteenth by making it an official holiday on January 1, 1979. Since then, many states have created Juneteenth commissions to make Juneteenth an annual day of recognition and established Juneteenth as a state holiday or state holiday observance. Throughout the United States, the descendants of former African slaves organize Juneteenth events to recognize the struggles and obstacles their ancestors experienced and their African traditions and values. But the significance goes beyond this. The major goal of Juneteenth is to memorialize the end of slavery in the United States in a way that brings complete celebrations of freedom.
Above all, Juneteenth is an opportunity for African Americans to celebrate their freedom, culture, and history. It has religious connotations and will create a lasting bond for church groups, civic organizations, volunteer groups, and professionals alike. It also provides the structure for small organizations and individuals to become organized in communities and neighborhoods. Through these means, individuals will be able to engage in powerful demonstrations to bring about change. It will also help groups focus on goals to support and educate the youth in the community. Recognizing and celebrating Juneteenth helps in developing a strong network between brothers, friends, and people of different ethnic groups as they better understand the significance of black culture and the landscape of the United States.
6.1. Educational Initiatives and Awareness
Local businesses, foundations, and churches have been instrumental in advancing Juneteenth and fostering its acknowledgement and support. Since Juneteenth has been known and observed across the United States, Proclamation Presentations formed a key part of activities. These came from a variety of sources, including historical organizations in the North, Lone Star residents who moved with their owners in the aftermath of the Civil War, and those same individuals' children, who had traveled there seeking certain mobility due to having relatives in both Waco and Houston. The Lone Star residents were called into action to request the proclamation of Juneteenth's Twin Holiday in an effort to bridge together retiring Regular Army personnel and Express guards who were assigned to protect company employees who had sparked disapproval power in the area. When members of the United States Air Force amy base in the state became aware of that day, they issued proclamations recognizing it.
Federal, state, and municipal agencies are increasingly recognizing Juneteenth as a day to be revered and acknowledged. This recognition has transpired in several forms: the memorialization of a significant location or event which supported the liberation of the enslaved, either by the rise of monuments or the designation of public parks, and in the formulation of educational initiatives designed to foster remembrance and awareness, such as speeches, June 19th parades, social and educational programs in public schools, performance art presentations, and historical production performances. The promotion of Juneteenth events has been facilitated through the use of municipal and state proclamations, joint legislation, and working with restorative community organizations. Active involvement within the community has helped to ensure the effective announcement and promotion of Juneteenth events in various communities.
7. The Future of Juneteenth Celebrations
From a future perspective, the standard form of Juneteenth celebrations will simply shift to a more substantial form. The tourist potential is very great. To date, however, major efforts have not been made using public or private resources to establish this national festival as a helping event. This neglect may be based upon the same factors that explain the weak form. The style is too Afro-American. However, the combination of slavery history programs, cultural events with all-American entertainment, and fairs to sell Juneteenth liquid happiness such as food, drink, and crafts represents a very promising tourist attraction. The absence of a uniform symbol is the unique factor that sets Juneteenth festivals apart from other regional history-oriented events. Isolation of the Juneteenth festival through the use of local symbols causes non-Afro-American residents of most communities to consider the actual celebration to be irrelevant to them. The factors that create tension - the perception of Afros as these visitors explore the festivities - do not occur. Indeed, white people want, as a general rule, to visit different places and witness different festivities. Social controls that prohibit casual conversations between visitors and Afro-Americans are not in place. These cultural festivals represent an attractive, safe, and inexpensive holiday opportunity. The Juneteenth festival is a ready-made package. The local Afro-American community is just waiting for someone to arrive with open pockets.
Juneteenth today, in essence, celebrates the freedom and resilience of the African American community in their contributions to the building of America. It is, however, a festival that could and should be celebrated by all Americans. There are, in addition to those previously indicated when discussing strong and weak forms, three areas in which Juneteenth celebrations face more practical challenges. It is possible that the risk is very low. It exists, however, in the minds of some white Americans. From the perspective of contemporary reality during these events, fireworks and heaven represent gunfire, especially in regions that are not accustomed to the sound of gunfire.
7.1. Increasing Recognition and National Awareness
Things are indeed changing. Many other communities are reviving the Han Juneteenth rediscovery and encouragement. Areas of interest and growth are reflected in family history, expressing deep within the celebration of family history, the overall emphasis on stabilizing the community at the local and the national level, reconstructions, or commemorative events such as Tulsa Okem celebrations. In 2003, Virginia became the 30th state to officially recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday. Commemorations, projects, and official actions inscribe special historic places that recognize tea-filled moments and encourage community members to save places expressive of the African American experience both before and after Emancipation, as well as research, teach and reinterpret these stories.
The meaning of Juneteenth has and continues to evolve. Specifically, the understanding of the significance of Juneteenth, whose message and implications are at once both historical and modern. The word itself was also not immediately clear. In Texas, the celebration of freedom was often referred to simply as Jubilee. By the 1880s, Juneteenth, or June 19th, became the preferred term. It is the oldest known celebration marking the end of slavery in the United States and has generally been recognized primarily in Texas. The significance of Juneteenth seems to have slipped through the cracks of overall American consciousness.
8. Conclusion
In consideration of the penal diversity of Juneteenth as a symbol, it is also an American history story. The necessity for historians to look beyond textbooks and engage in the reinterpretation of documents that have been used to regulate documents of transformation in ways that create meaning. In many ways, the dissent must be careful and deliberate, lest symbolic implications take on a life of their own and again represent reality in ways that only reinforce or distort the harm but actual absolute truth. In the final analysis, the reason Juneteenth is significant is its message of and about historical resiliency, which is key for a people that evolved from Homo Negroid to Greenberg's Rule of Threes categories to be classified as African American.
Thus, American history tells the complex story of both idealism and ambition, along with the struggle for human rights, both chosen and forced, throughout our nation's founding and continuing. Subsequently, after the removal of familiarity, then came the next phase in the removal of liberty. After years of isolation and desolation, the encampment came to mean confinement. The ethnic seed that moved toward integration, citizenship, civil rights, and political assimilation after slavery underwent treatment in the concentration camp environment after the Middle Passage, slavery, and growth of the political and economic service sectors came to be.
8.1. Reflecting on the Importance of Juneteenth
Juneteenth is about the celebration and the challenges still facing African Americans. It is the only African American holiday in the United States and has legal status in 26 states; some states even close state offices to celebrate Juneteenth. Every year, Houston, Texas, which is considered the birthplace of the Juneteenth observance, takes full holiday status and past celebrations from sun up to sunset on Saturday as well. This year, Governor Ann Richards, the first woman Governor of Texas, is the keynote speaker. Governor Richards is a descendant from an Oregon slave, one who sought refuge in Mexico in order to be free over the years of bondage.
As we reflect on Juneteenth and its significance, we should earnestly consider the African American people whose celebration we join. Who and what are they honoring? At first glance, some may think this is just a benign Independence Day for another people. Upon closer inspection, however, the difference becomes more stark. The import of what Juneteenth represents presents another dimension of appreciation for how hard they had to fight and how much they had to endure. The symbolism of Juneteenth is the symbolic way in which we, together, stayed the course and now is the proud fruit. We should remember and celebrate as the black community does, in part to gain appreciation of the extraordinary effort they put forth as a people in order to preserve the Union.