On Juneteenth

 

On June 18 1865 General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston, Texas. He had just finished successful campaigns on the Gulf of Mexico recapturing Union forts. His next mission was to subdue the rebellion in Texas. The next day, on June 19th, he changed the last stages of the Civil War by reading several orders from the Ashton Villa. Yet, most only recall Order #3 which gives rise to Juneteenth, which is now celebrated as “the official end of slavery” in the United States. The order read:

“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, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

Unfortunately, nothing is really that simple. Order #3 is a military proclamation, an extension of the Emancipation Proclamation. On paper slavery in Texas should have ended on January 1, 1863. Instead people flocked to Texas to avoid any legitimacy that the proclamation might have held.  We know that local citizens could read about the order in the Galveston Tri-Weekly News on June 20th or nationally in the New York Times on July 7th, but we really don’t know what people thought of the order. Public opinion was not published or shared. It appears that various audiences interpreted the orders in different ways. Order #3 was tied to Orders #4 and #5, which respectively overthrew Texas’s Confederate government and protected the shipments of cotton.

Order #3 did not protect freedom, but rather announced it. Yet, it guaranteed that the planter class would still have workers by informing the freed people to remain where they were and to accept wages for their services. When combined with order #5, it is clear that the Union Army needed to continue the production of cotton, and wanted the former slaves to remain working in the fields. History informs us that many former slave-masters tried to oblige the Union Army to maintain their wealth and to maintain slavery by refusing to pay for labor that once was free. 

Texas experienced degrees of quasi-slavery and that without the assistance of the Freedmen’s Bureau, African Americans would have not secured any degree of independence from the peculiar institution.  However, the freed people had other intentions. They wanted to find family members and reunite their families, many wanted to get as far away from the farms and plantations as possible, and many wanted to create new lives with new forms of employment. Within a year they began celebrating their freedom, honoring those who survived enslavement, honoring their ancestors, and reuniting their families. This began Juneteenth. And when the Black Codes were used as a means to prohibit black celebrations, several black communities raised funds and purchased land on which to hold private celebrations. 

The reinvention of African American lives is at the heart of Juneteenth. That it survived Reconstruction, Jim Crow, race riots, World Wars, Great Migrations, and a Civil Rights Movement is a testimony to the creativity of black people.  Juneteenth has fallen out of favor several times, but has been rediscovered by generations at critical times. Last year, perhaps serves as one of the most critical periods. 

On the eve of Juneteenth being made a national holiday, it is important to reflect on how we reached this significant moment. We are celebrating the date that highlights “the end of slavery” at a time when many are denouncing the teaching of “critical race theory” and are suggesting that racism doesn’t exist in America. We have seen a year of protests about police brutality, systemic racism, and a virus that killed a disproportionate number of African Americans. America is clearly a land of mass contradictions. This holiday, however, should not and must not be seen as a racial buffer or as token gesture, but an act that is long overdue. 

We need to make sure that we celebrate Juneteenth as a holiday and not another shopping event. Families need to read about the holiday and teach their children about the past.  Eat the red cake, drink the red soda pop and have bbq.  Enjoy the parades and other festivities.

Let’s make sure that the entire history of Juneteenth and the Civil War are taught in schools so that America will never forget its own dark history and how African Americans rose above it!