Juneteenth

In this week’s issue you’ll see photos of Rockdale’s annual Juneteenth Parade. Juneteenth has just become a national holiday which was signed by President Biden last Thursday. This holiday has been celebrated for over 150 years and has a special relationship to Texas. As a matter of fact it always was a Texas holiday until last Thursday.

Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery and is considered the longest-running African-American holiday.

States have their own emancipation days, but Juneteenth in Texas is very special because it was the last one. Finally, everyone was free.

In 2014 the Historical Commission put up a marker in Galveston in the exact spot where the Major General Gordon Granger read the proclamation and the inscription helps us understand why it took so long for emancipation to finally reach Texas:

“Commemorated annually on June 19th, Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on Sept. 22, 1862, announced, ‘That on the first day of January. A.D. 1863, all person held as slaves within any state…in rebellion against the U.S. shall be then, thenceforward and forever free.’ However, it would take the Civil War and passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to end the brutal institution of African American slavery.

“After the Civil War ended in April 1865 most slaves in Texas were still unaware of their freedom. This began to change when Union troops arrived in Galveston. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger read ‘General Order No. 3’ on June 19, 1865. The order stated ‘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 masters and slaves.’ With this notice, reconstruction era in Texas began.

“Freed African Americans observed ‘Emancipation Day,’ as it was first known, as early as 1866 in Galveston. As community gatherings grew across Texas, celebrations included parades, prayer, singing and readings of the proclamation. In the mid-20th century, community celebrations gave way to more private commemorations. A re-emergence of public observance helped Juneteenth become a state holiday in 1979. Initially observed in Texas, this landmark event’s legacy is evident today by worldwide commemorations that celebrate freedom and the triumph of the human spirit.”

Early Juneteenth celebrations were focused on children because they were the first generation not born into slavery. These children and their nonslave status were very important to parents and grandparents.

From The Smithsonian, “The post-emancipation period known as Reconstruction (1865- 1877) marked an era of great hope, uncertainty, and struggle for the nation as a whole. Formerly enslaved people immediately sought to reunify families, establish schools, run for political office, push radical legislation and even sue slaveholders for compensation. Given the 200-plus years of enslavement, such changes were nothing short of amazing.

“Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day. Although it has long been celebrated in the African-American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans.

“The historical legacy of Juneteenth shows the value of never giving up hope in uncertain times. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a community space where this spirit of hope lives on. A place where historical events like Juneteenth are shared and new stories with equal urgency are told.”—K.W.C.