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You are here: Home / Open Threads / On Juneteenth

On Juneteenth

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So. Juneteenth. We’ve officially created a holiday to acknowledge the end of slavery in Texas. Well… the enforcement of General Order Number 3, with the full military might of the winning faction. Still took a couple more months for that chattel slavery to end in Delaware & Kentucky – a couple of years after the Emancipation Proclamation, in fact – but why quibble over details?
Although… we didn’t end it so prison labor became the hot new slave labor and criminalizing Black people existing became a real purpose for the “Law” enforcement in America. Maybe we can get around to that.
I mean, took us a while to get the right to vote enshrined explicitly into law, because white people basically took their toys and the military might that won the Civil War back home and for the peace, let other white people take out their anger and hatred on Blacks, giving us the KKK, the Jim Crow South, lynchings, rapes, etc. But let’s not ignore that sundown towns and racial violence didn’t give
a damn about north or south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
I, personally, feel neither hot nor cold on Juneteenth. I do respect my elders though, and I feel Ms. Opal Lee has some good points in her advocacy. Holidays make people pay attention. It’s a good time to stop, read, learn, reflect and then celebrate. We do deserve this recognition. We must get people to learn our shared American history, because we are repeating it but faster and worse.

Post-Reconstruction, emancipated Black people held office, built businesses and towns, earned degrees and prospered. Once the military support of the National government was removed, the local states upended democracy to get things back to the way it was, just without the honest slavery part. Terror happened while most of America – white America – got to avert their eyes because being opposed to slavery didn’t mean you thought Black people were equal. It didn’t mean you thought they should be able to vote, or hold office or work for themselves. So it was easy to look away until the presence of cameras provided horrific video and photography to demonstrate that there was inhuman violence targeting black people. My heart tells me that’s where we are headed to again. The mistake folks will make is to believe it will only focus on us.

So, Republicans are removing key electoral safety officers who have not decided that the only valid party is the GOP. They’re drafting laws to control elections. They’re targeting black voters over and over. Fox News’ most popular program had Charles Murry on to discuss the natural lack of intellectual capacity that Black people have which is why there’s no real discrimination. Republican led state legislatures all over the country are banning the teaching of America’s shameful, genocidal past under the pretense that it’s “Critical Race Theory” and of course, we have our grifting GOP Black people prancing in front of cameras to be the black friend of racists. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/us/politics/republican-states.html

A lot of white people have asked how should they celebrate Juneteenth. I’ve said learn, remember and celebrate but I need to add 1 more thing. Don’t roll up the support and sit back. We are still not free. We are still under assault and unfortunately, the plan is to go after anyone not straight, not white, not cis, not their brand of religion. Too many people think this is about capitalism and all the solutions are about money. Nah. We need your butts to get ready and stay ready. This is an all the marbles push by folks who would be great friends with Simon Legree. I’d love to celebrate, but I think I’d like to put more of a buffer between being Black in America right now and the past.

I’ll leave it at that. And since I went kinda heavy, here’s a pupper to soothe you a bit.

Reader Interactions

57Comments

  2. 2.

    billcinsd

    chattel slavery to end in Delaware & Kentucky – a couple of years after the Emancipation Proclamation

    well, sure. The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to the states in rebellion which did not include Delaware and Kentucky. So even when we do something good, we tend to come up a little short

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    Thanks for this. Well said. It’s important incremental progress, but much remains to be done. And no progress is permanent.

    Many of have been pleasantly surprised and gratified that Biden seems to be an excellent fit for the Presidency at this moment. I suspect that we’ll find that Harris will be a similarly consequential fit for her position.

    Imagine being so racist you’re *mad* about having an extra day to drink beer and eat barbecued meats.

    — Adam Serwer ? (@AdamSerwer) June 17, 2021

    Yup. That’s what the good in America is up against.

    Thanks again.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  4. 4.

    Benw

    All the truth!

    My family went into the city today for a march for Black freedom, and then a celebration of Juneteenth. One of the themes was Black joy as resistance, and it was moving to see the joy in celebrating the day from the Black and other BIPOC folks who were so happy to be taking the day for themselves, as an act of resistance to the white culture that constantly tries to co-opt and then erase them.

    Thank you for this evocative post, ruemara!

  5. 5.

    Richard

    I don’t know. I am happy we have Juneteenth.  It is time for that day, and way overdue.

  6. 6.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Thanks, Ruemara!

    I’ve been taking today to think about all this. Twitter has had some excellent history threads that I’ve learned from.

    And there’s a lot to think about in this from Benw:

    Black joy as resistance

  8. 8.

    gwangung

    I’m not celebrating Juneteenth, as a non-Black person. I am observing it. And where I do feel joy, it is in observing those who do celebrate it.

  9. 9.

    HumboldtBlue

    One of the most important lessons I was taught was to listen to black men and women when they tell you about how they experience life.

  10. 10.

    HalfAssedHomesteader

    Good post.  I like how MLK Day has become a de facto National Day of Service.  Would be nice if Juneteenth becomes a National Day of Study.

  11. 11.

    Auntie Anne

    @HumboldtBlue: I couldn’t agree more.  One of my very best friends is black (oh god, that sounds like every cliche in the universe!) and listening and trying to see the world through each other’s eyes has made both of us better people. And let me tell you, her world is a lot different than mine.  We have a long way to go, but I will take any progress we make.

  18. 18.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Auntie Anne:

    There was no other way in our upbringing it was mandatory. I was raised by educators, and that included all the black men and women who were teachers and parents.

    I was lucky. Mrs. Bowers. Mr. and Mrs. Fennell. Ms. Guandique, Mr. Ricks and every black parent from my sports teams and my band and chorus teams were ever-present in my life.

    It’s reflected in my family to this day. We have an international cast of characters.

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    Thread

     

    Jonathan Zittrain (@zittrain) tweeted at 7:40 AM on Sat, Jun 19, 2021:
    Some extraordinary quotes in this piece. It’s hard not to conclude from it that many Republican officials believe that only Republicans can be trusted to administer elections, and only Republicans can legitimately win them. (Any Rs who do certify a D victory are also purged.)
    (https://twitter.com/zittrain/status/1406230348879601665?s=03)

  21. 21.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    We are still not free. We are still under assault and unfortunately, the plan is to go after anyone not straight, not white, not cis, not their brand of religion. Too many people think this is about capitalism and all the solutions are about money. Nah. We need your butts to get ready and stay ready. This is an all the marbles push by folks who would be great friends with Simon Legree. I’d love to celebrate, but I think I’d like to put more of a buffer between being Black in America right now and the past.

    I was surprised when McConnell made Ron Johnson– and I’d be surprised if he was the only one– stand down. I tried to be optimistic, thinking he knew opposing this was bad politics. But a part of me wonders if isn’t just to be able to say, “If we’re so racist, what about Juneteenth?”

  23. 23.

    patrick II

    The Bucks just beat the Nets in overtime.  I won’t have to watch that f*”kin James Hardin anymore. Of course he walked off the court and to the locker room just before the game was over.

  29. 29.

    Josie (also)

    I worked in rural North Carolina as a young person new to the South.  I kept seeing historical signs about the early Black representatives in the North Carolina government.  They were a puzzlement.  It really contradicted the NC I saw at the time.  It is amazing to see the historians explaining what actually happened.  I applaud the persons who were able to make the early signs!

  31. 31.

    Kattails

    Thanks for this. I am old enough to have been able to actually notice the glacially slow changes in society. I’m also a straight, white female. Earlier today was feeling overwhelmed at “too much to do” & told myself to get shit squared away because we have a nasty fight coming up.
    I have no sense that gender race, or age would spare me from the shit that’s brewing out there. The neighbors I thought were sane who still have Trump signs up. My mother, 92 years old , been a good Lutheran for forever, has no idea that she’s a racist. Decades of her religion have not taught her how to spot the evil that the Republican Party is sending out. even though it has bells, whistles, and flashing red lights

  33. 33.

    Sandia Blanca

    Many thanks to ruemara and rikyrah for keeping our eyes focused on the big picture and the whole picture.

    As a non-native Texan, I had never heard of Juneteenth until I’d lived here a couple of years, and I was shocked that people had been kept from knowing the truth for years after the Emancipation Proclamation. As I have since learned more about the history of slavery and Reconstruction, I see that my white privilege was a large source of that shock.

    To the people who say patiently “we tried to tell y’all”–I’m listening now. There is much to learn, and much work to be done by those of us who have benefited all these hundreds of years from a system based on cruelty.

  35. 35.

    TMC

    I learned about Juneteenth in the early 50’s when I was a little girl from my parents best friends, a Black couple who lived in the same housing project. It was an amazingly integrated community with white blue collar and city workers, along with Black and Asian professionals. My parents’ friend was an executive chef and taught me how to make Lemon Meringue Pie.

    One evening his oldest son, Daryl, and I were reading story books when Don came over and had us put them down. He wanted to tell us a story about Juneteenth. My dad was there, too. I was a precocious 5 year old and knew about the Civil War. I knew Lincoln had freed the slaves. I didn’t know the story about Galveston, Texas. After Don was finished, we got a map to find Galveston. I had a zillion questions, as usual, and still didn’t quite grasp what racism was or why Blacks were slaves. Don said that was something that I would learn about when I grew up. He was right.

    Don told us lots of stories about the underground railroad and took us to historic places near where we lived. It was an education I didn’t get in school.

    We all eventually moved out of the project, bought homes and, sadly, lost contact. The last I heard from Don was when my Dad died in 1966. By then his wife and oldest son, Daryl, had both passed away from Sickle Cell Disease. Left home for several years living in Europe and various places around the world. When I finally came home, Don, too, has passed away. For years now I place flowers on the family grave on Juneteenth.

  36. 36.

    Ruckus

    @Auntie Anne:

    I am white. I am male. The world I have lived in has been far easier in several ways because of those 2 facts.

    It shouldn’t be.

    But life has also led to me meeting some incredible people in the last 7 decades, and my upbringing of not having a bad word spoken in my household, as a child or an adult about any race of human beings helped with that. My best friend of 40+ yrs died 4 yrs ago, a black woman I met through my sister. You have no idea how much I miss her. A man that worked for my dad, he took me under his wing when I was starting out and had just turned 12 and taught me that humans come in all stripes, sizes, and colors. Another man that worked for my dad 20+ yrs later, who had to drop out of the 4th grade to work to support his mom, showed me that same exact thing, in a different way by working to support his wife and child, and then their twins. We taught him trigonometry in two months, part time, with his fourth grade education. He was not in any way dumb, just not educated. These people, I miss them something fierce, I think of them often, because they helped make me a better person, by just being themselves and treating me like they wanted to be treated.

  37. 37.

    Madeleine

    Thank you ruemara for your forthright words and rikirah for all the linked tweets. And to others for your  comments.

  40. 40.

    Mary G

    My mother, born in Austin, taught me when I was little that Juneteenth was a commemoration of how the slaves and allies smuggled in the newspapers that the white people had purposefully withheld in order to keep control of slavery, not just a “news traveled very slowly in the 1860s” deal. In a world where railroads and telegraphs existed, to not have heard of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation in three years does seem unlikely, but I’ve never read anything by historians claiming this, just that Texas was very remote and slaveholders and slaves had fled there as the Union began to win the war, and it just didn’t get around.

  42. 42.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    Apropos of nothing in particular, I’ve seen some annoying takes that Juneteenth is a race specific holiday. And… damn it, the reason July 4, 1776 is special is, a decision was made, and an action was taken that gives us pride. How the ever living *hell* does that differ from Juneteenth (perhaps not the day, but the ending of slavery the day represents) ?

    I mean, it’s a mixed pride, “I’m so horribly sorry to tell you the struggle won’t end in this century, nor the next.”

    But if you acknowledge that chattel slavery is a moral abomination, it seems you must also acknowledge a symbol of its ending is cause for pride and a very mixed, muted, joy. (All of this is spoken as a middle aged white man, and for people sufficiently like me – my horror is seeing other white men, old enough to know better, but too bigoted to try, who will say chattel slavery was an abomination, but that its ending was, you know, no biggie.)

  43. 43.

    Comrade Colette

    @gwangung:

    I’m not celebrating Juneteenth, as a non-Black person. I am observing it. And where I do feel joy, it is in observing those who do celebrate it.

    Well said.

    I was a bit shocked to hear two young coworkers (California public school/university graduates) say they’d never heard of Juneteenth until last year. I learned about it in my small-town New England elementary school in the mid-60s – but their curriculum never missed an opportunity to cast shade on the Confederacy while indulging in a great deal of chest-puffing about Union heroism. Actual Black Americans were treated as just scenery. I’m glad this holiday puts them front and center, and my role is offstage on Juneteenth.

  44. 44.

    Chetan Murthy

    The mistake folks will make is to believe it will only focus on us.

    I sure hope folks don’t believe that.  B/c it won’t.  There are a whole bunch of folks besides Black people, in their sights this time.  I sure hope we all understand Father Niemoller’s Confession: we’ll either live by it, or die by it.

  45. 45.

    opiejeanne

    @Mary G: A slight correction: The Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863.

    There was an earlier emancipation declared by Major General John C. Fremont in Missouri, only applying to that state, on August 30, 1861.  Lincoln knew he needed the slave-holding Union supporters in that state, so it was rescinded on September 11, 1861.

  47. 47.

    Richard Guhl

    Ruemara,

    While puppers are wonderful, your straight, unvarnished message is what truly heals.

  48. 48.

    Starfish

    This is a story about Black election officials being removed under Georgia’s new crappy election laws.

    Lonnie Hollis has been a member of the Troup County election board in West Georgia since 2013. A Democrat and one of two Black women on the board, she has advocated Sunday voting, helped voters on Election Days and pushed for a new precinct location at a Black church in a nearby town.
    But this year, Ms. Hollis will be removed from the board, the result of a local election law signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican. Previously, election board members were selected by both political parties, county commissioners and the three biggest municipalities in Troup County. Now, the G.O.P.-controlled county commission has the sole authority to restructure the board and appoint all the new members.

  49. 49.

    Starfish

    Here is an article about the effects of the election law in Georgia and how Black election officials have been removed.

  50. 50.

    Gvg

    @Mary G: I have only heard that it was a deliberate conspiracy to hide the truth. I heard about it sometime in middle school probably in the early 70’s. I don’t think it was taught, it was just something mentioned or read. I didn’t think of it as black only, but I did think of it as a Texas holiday.

    My Florida school was always pretty clear that the south fought for slavery and lost, I only heard about the war of northern aggression as a joke. My sister seems to have encountered some more bigoted teachers although that was mostly religious. I know that I read more history for fun than school assigned so I am not sure anymore what the school didn’t cover. I think they whitewashed Washington and Jefferson some in first or second grade…

  53. 53.

    AJ

    ruemara thank you for this. It was the last thing I read last night before sleep and the right note to end the day on.

    Hope you and the kitties are doing ok today.

  56. 56.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Thanks for this post and for (along with Rikyrah) regularly sharing your truths and pushing this space.

    Watched a documentary on Tulsa/Greenwood massacre on History Channel that was surprisingly good and in-depth.  I knew most of the basics but it taught me a lot that I hadn’t known before and is the type of honest accounted, centered around Black voices that needs to be taught, pondered and understood by all Americans, especially us whites.

    “Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre” takes an in-depth, sobering look at the tragic events of a century ago and focuses on a specific period, from the birth of Black Wall Street, to its catastrophic downfall over the course of two bloody days, and finally the fallout and reconstruction. The documentary also follows the city’s current-day grave excavation efforts at Oaklawn Cemetery where numerous unmarked coffins of victims who were killed and buried during the massacre have been recovered. It will also feature rare archival footage and imagery from the time, coupled with commentary and interviews from numerous historians, city leaders, and activists, including the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum, the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission and the Historic Vernon A.M.E. Church, among others.”

    https://www.history.com/specials/tulsa-burning-the-1921-race-massacre

  57. 57.

    boatboy_srq

    Amazing post.

    Something I have been running into in other conversations is the idea that Juneteenth is the first federal holiday celebrating not merely the end of slavery, but the defeat of the Confederacy and the end of slaveholding as an institution. It’s final, official recognition that the mythology of the Lost Cause™ and the nobility of states’ rights and secession are out of place and out of step. It’s condemnation of all the Confederate-flag-waving, Those-Other-People-oppressing wingnuts. That’s big, and that’s powerful.

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