Friday, June 19, 2020

Juneteenth - A Day of Jubilee




Juneteenth is the annual holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States, and commemorates the day when news of their emancipation finally reached the slaves that were held in the deepest parts of the Confederacy. Although the holiday is well known in some parts of the country, many of us are simply unaware of what the holiday celebrates and why it is so significant to many of our fellow citizens.

On June 18, 1865, General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX with 1,800 Union soldiers to occupy Texas and enforce the laws of the Federal government.  The following day, on June 19th, General Granger went out on the balcony of a large home in Galveston and read out multiple General Orders establishing the military authority in the area and setting up the provisional government and its laws.  Among the orders read by General Granger was General Order No. 3:

“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 hereby 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.”

General Granger’s announcement electrified the now former slaves who spontaneously began celebrating their freedom with prayer, singing, and general rejoicing.

A year later, the freedmen in Texas organized the first “Jubilee Day” celebration to commemorate General Granger’s announcement.  The celebration on June 19th became an annual tradition, with former slaves and their families gathering in their finest clothes to celebrate their freedom with religious services, the singing of traditional spirituals, readings of the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3, and plenty of the families’ best cooking to share and enjoy with their neighbors.  As the years passed, Jubilee Day became known by several different names, including Freedom Day, Ce-Liberation Day, Emancipation Day, and the name it is known by today – Juneteenth.

Early Juneteenth observances were church-centered celebrations that doubled as opportunities for the freedmen to learn how to exercise their new rights, such as the right to vote, and to organize schools and other institutions designed to improve their lives.

As former slaves in Texas began exercising their freedom to move about the country, many returned to the states they had been dragged from to look for their families and loved ones that had been left behind.  Others migrated to northern states, or out west.  Wherever they went, the tradition of Juneteenth went with them, and Jubilee celebrations began spreading throughout the nation.

Like the struggle for civil rights, Juneteenth celebrations have also faced obstacles imposed by bigotry and racism.  Many cities prohibited African-Americans from gathering together in public parks and facilities.  In those cities the Black community celebrated Juneteenth on river banks, or by lakes away from town.  In some cities, Black citizens pooled their resources to purchase land and create their own parks.  Historic Emancipation Park in downtown Houston, TX, was originally purchased by members of the Black community in 1872 as a place to hold their annual Jubilee Day celebrations. 

In the years since General Granger read General Order No. 3, the number of Juneteenth celebrations have increased or diminished depending on what has been happening in the country.  Some eras in particular, such as the end of Reconstruction and the Great Depression, saw fewer communities celebrate Juneteenth. Other eras, such as the 50’s and 60’s, saw a regular increase in Juneteenth celebrations as African-American GI’s returned from World War II, and the Civil Rights movement grew and gathered momentum.  In the late 1970’s, the Texas Legislature declared Juneteenth a “holiday of significance,” and in 1980 Texas became the first state to declare Juneteenth a State Holiday.  Today 47 states and the District of Columbia officially acknowledge Juneteenth.

June 19, 1865 marked the end of slavery as a legal institution in the United States of America.  It also marked the beginning of the long and tortuous road that African-Americans have walked over the past 155 years to get the equal rights that are their due as free men and women. Juneteenth is not just a celebration of freedom from slavery, it is a call to continue the struggle for civil rights until everyone is valued for who they are, not what they look like.  It is a day to reflect on how we regard and treat our fellowman, and to break off any chains of bigotry and prejudice that may still bind our own hearts.



Happy Juneteenth!

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