THE DAY THAT FREED US ALL
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when this country served the last official notice that slavery had ended
On this day154 years ago, word reached Galveston, Texas, of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, officially freeing the last slaves held in the United States.
It is an annual designation that has regional pockets of acknowledgment but which sadly remains unknown to most Americans. During the past several decades, both houses of Congress have paid lip service to federal recognition, with no real results.
But we need to recognize it and understand its significance here in Virginia and in Hampton Roads.
Our region is rightfully proud of the “Historic Triangle” formed by Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown. But there is another triangle that merits attention and reverence as well. Point Comfort, where the first Africans arrived on our shores in1619; Fort Monroe, where escaped slaves found true freedom during the Civil War; and Hampton University’s Emancipation Oak, the site of the first public reading in the South of the Emancipation Proclamation.
For these three reasons, the city of Hampton is central to the chapter of American history that Juneteenth memorializes. If it should be celebrated anywhere, it should be celebrated here. And yes, it should be celebrated.
The Fourth of July marks the anniversary of when we proclaimed to the world that all men are created equal. Rightly so, Juneteenth is a tangible step toward that ideal.
In truth, there are any number of dates that could have been chosen to mark the milestone. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, and it went into effect on Jan. 1, 1863. News traveled slowly those days, especially news in the war-torn South. That fateful day in Texas — June19,1865 — came two and a half years after the proclamation freed the slaves, and nearly two months after President Lincoln’s assassination.
The13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became law on Dec. 18, 1865, after it was ratified by three-quarters of the current states, including Virginia on Feb. 9 of that year. Mississippi did not formally ratify the amendment until 1995.
Both the Emancipation Proclamation and13th Amendment fell short of guaranteeing equal treatment for African Americans, allowing southern states to pass harsh Jim Crow laws well into the 20th century. Our country is still addressing the inequities those laws helped foment.
Still, the spirit of Juneteenth remains alive in
present times.
At least 45 states, including Virginia, recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or day of recognition.
It is a shame those remaining states have not agreed to formally recognize this monumental event.
America, though, is still opening its eyes to the horror interlaced with the history of African Americans in this country.
In April 2018, a monument and museum that commemorate the use of post-war lynching opened in Montgomery, Ala. It is the first of its kind in the United States. The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened two years ago in Washington, D.C. The facility in the National Mall dedicates sections to slavery, segregation and the Jim Crow-era South.
As a region, we must also continue to recognize and discuss our history as it relates to slavery and segregation.
The Peninsula’s introduction to involuntary servitude began in1619 when Africans arrived on a ship that landed at Point Comfort on present-day Fort Monroe. The fort is also the site where, on May 23, 1861, three escaped slaves arrived seeking asylum, prompting Union General Benjamin Butler’s landmark “contraband of war” decision.
Juneteenth is a date to be celebrated not just by African Americans, but by all Americans. It marks a moment of seismic change in our history, when our country became better, stronger and more honorable. When our country became freer.
The unchaining of slaves and their recognition as citizens rather than as property marked a critical turning point in our country, a significant and undeniable step forward toward the true Democratic society described in the rhetoric of the visionaries who founded America.
Slavery is an inescapable part of our nation’s history. We celebrate America in a variety of ways through specific holidays. The designation of Juneteenth honors those slaves who persevered and then took advantage of their freedom, as well as those who died as martyrs. It pays tribute to the men and women of all races who dedicated their lives to the abolitionist cause.
It’s a date that deserves to be recognized far more than it is.
The frayed threads of this nation’s character development have been inextricably intertwined since its beginning. It’s past time to acknowledge the entire fabric of our history.