On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward and forever free.” However, the story of freedom did not start, and certainly did not end with him.
Since the beginning of enslavement, enslaved Black Americans had been emancipating themselves.
For more than two centuries, slaves jumped off of slave ships into frigid water; paddled by canoe; snuck by train; galloped on horse; and transported themselves to freedom. It took a bloody civil war and the deaths of over 650,000 people to end slavery in the United States. To commemorate Juneteenth — now the first established federal holiday since 1983 — is to honor the Black American struggle and the jubilation of freedom.
On June 19, 1865, Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived in Galveston with the news that the war was over and the enslaved were now free.
Granger delivered General Order No. 3, which 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 masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
Much of the nation was appalled at Black liberation. Slavery continued in Kentucky and Delaware because those states had not seceded, and Lincoln’s proclamation did not apply to them until the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 18, 1865. Slavery was practiced in Oregon, California, New Jersey, Louisiana, and several other states until at least the 1850s. It would take more than a century for emancipation to be officially commemorated, with Juneteenth becoming a legal holiday in Texas in 1979.
President Biden signed legislation on Thursday to make Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021, establishing June 19 as the national day to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the United States.
“All Americans can feel the power of this day, and learn from our history,” Mr. Biden said at a White House ceremony, noting that it was the first national holiday established since Martin Luther King’s birthday in 1983.
Despite the achievement of making Juneteenth a federal holiday, some Black Americans question whether making Juneteenth a day for everyone to “celebrate” is just another symbolic gesture and act of performative activism, especially given the growing number of people who are opposed to schools teaching about the history of racism and anti-Blackness in the United States.
The fact that the government has refused to address police brutality in any substantial way, critical race theory is being banned, overtly racist voter suppression bills are being introduced in states across the country, and talks of reparations are consistently stifled, cannot be overlooked. If lawmakers truly want to demonstrate honor and respect, they should do everything they can to protect Black lives.
However, because the federal holiday has already been declared, there are a few things that anyone who is not Black or is unfamiliar with how to commemorate June 19, 1865 should be aware of. Juneteenth is about and for Black people, specifically those descended from enslaved people in Texas and the South. It was founded by Black Galveston residents to commemorate and recall their emancipation journey, as well as to recognize Juneteenth’s spread to and acceptance by other newly freed Black communities, which represented a strong sense of optimism, potential, and resilience.
While Juneteenth is celebratory, community-focused, and joyful in its execution, this joyous energy among Black celebrants should not be mistaken for their erasure of or ignorance of the holiday’s gruesome history and foreboding pain.
The holiday should not be defined solely by advertisements for widely broadcast Juneteenth celebrations and global partnerships announcing Juneteenth as a paid workday for everyone. A paid workday simply allows members of Congress and corporate executives to congratulate themselves on doing the bare minimum to deal with slavery and its consequences.
Rather, Juneteenth could be an opportunity for non-Black people to combat whitewashed histories and become involved in the fight against racial injustice.
Now that Juneteenth is a federal holiday, the significance and spirit of the celebrations should not be forgotten. The national commemoration should inspire people to reexamine American history and to join the fight for more restorative and transformative efforts for Black communities now, more than ever.
Juneteenth is both a holiday to celebrate and a time to reflect on the promises that this country has yet to fulfill. Those who have already commemorated Juneteenth should continue to do so through cultural storytelling, pageantry, soul food, music, and Black congregation.
So, to all Black Americans (particularly Texans and southerners), bring on the reunions, parades, collard greens, and cornbread as we carry on our traditions and commemorate this historic day.
