Juneteenth reminds us freedom remains a work in progress
If ever there was a cause to celebrate, it would be the end of human bondage in a touted democracy. Since 1865, this celebration has evolved into Juneteenth, the day marking the official end of slavery in Texas.
Also called Emancipation Day in the past, Juneteenth achieved widespread popularity only recently. Celebrations have featured everything from participants attired in their Sunday best, barbecues and rodeos, to poetry readings and music to dress it up as a celebration.
The Juneteenth national holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, the date Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops came to Galveston, Texas, to oversee the freedom of slaves in the last Confederate outpost of the Civil War.
Upon his arrival, Granger clearly sought a peaceful transition. His desires were embodied in the issuance of General Order No. 3, which reads in part: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free . ... 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.”
While to the point and direct — “all slaves are free” — General Order
No. 3 seems to discourage celebratory behavior while encouraging subservience. It reeks of a paradox: Technically, you are free but do not exercise your freedom.
That, in fact, is the African American saga. Freedom has been a check written but not fully cashed, from the second that captive Africans stepped foot on present-day Fort Monroe — supposedly as indentured servants — to George Floyd’s death and beyond.
There is more to this irony. Even emancipation was not fully realized on June 19, 1865. What we celebrate as Juneteenth was not the last day of slavery. It legally continued in Delaware, Kentucky and other places until Dec. 6, 1865, when the 13th Amendment was signed. Further, those in present-day Oklahoma continued slavery well into 1866. Still further, discriminatory post-war laws gave new life to sharecropping, birthed convict leasing and other practices designed to fill the lucrative voids of chattel slavery.
That makes Juneteenth a symbolic occasion, asterisked by the corroboration that black freedom is a rickety, fleeting work in progress.
Despite what was to come, Blacks must have felt an indescribable euphoria following Granger’s announcement. Their minds may have been flooded with possibility, and their hearts had to pound from the prospect of being able to be and do without restraint.
The jubilation, however, eventually descended to the reality that Black freedom was not commensurate with that of their former captors and racial prejudice could not be simply wiped away with ink on paper.
Notwithstanding, Blacks strove to better their lives amidst waves of racial violence and discrimination. They spilled blood for this country on distant battlefields and fought to improve their lot with astounding measures of dignity and civility.
Yet, more than 150 years following the official end of slavery, remnants of the past persist. In severity, they have appeared in the form of pelting rain, pummeling hail or, in the case of Floyd, violent thunderstorms.
As the storms of social turmoil can dampen any celebration, Juneteenth is still cause for jubilation. Not only is it a symbol of black resiliency in the face of ongoing turbulence, it has always been an exercise of reflection, hope and determination.
This year’s event, like every year, will be tinged with strong undercurrents of what cannot be celebrated and what has not been achieved.
That is a sad statement on the current state of affairs in the most advanced and touted democracy in the world.