One hundred fifty five years ago today Union soldiers brought slavery to an end in Texas, two and a half years after it should have ended. Therefore June 19th, aka Juneteenth, has become a Black holiday that we should all celebrate. Now that slavery has ended, are Black people truly free?
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
Later attempts to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All of which, or none of these versions could be true. Certainly, for some, President Lincoln’s authority over the rebellious states was in question. Whatever the reasons, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory… [emphasis original]
Inserted from <Juneteenth.com>
The site referenced above is completely dedicated to Juneteenth and is a treasure trove of information on that subject. I hope you will invest the time to explore it thoroughly.
Criminal Fuhrer Trump* and the Republican Reich would return to slavery, racist violence and even lynching, if they could. The best they can do, for now, is the murder of Blacks by racist Republican Police and other Republican terrorists. Juneteenth must remind us that we are all responsible for achieving Black freedom.
RESIST!!
10 Responses to “Celebrate Juneteenth!”
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Yes, I agree…dt and his horde of R’s would love nothing better than to do what you wrote, Tom.
I found the Vox video informative, sad, slaves with the history of the murders of their people, on-going discrimination, and violence against the blacks for years and years.
Personally, we should have this day set aside, and have Juneteenth set aside as a national holiday. imho.
Thanks, TC for post.
I don’t think we’re having a Juneteenth parade this year, what w/the covid and all.
I’ve seen (and signed) a couple of petitions to Congress to make it an official national holiday.
I’m afraid Trump* has a point that his actions made it more widely known. There are some progressives reluctantly confessing that they had not known about it before. I think that says more about how easy it is to be and stay ignorant, even when you don’t want to, than it does about Trump* but that’s just a thought.
The end of legal slavery in this country is definitely worth celebrating! Slavery is an evil that needs to be eliminated worldwide, for once and all.
No, not really free! We’ve seen the hanging of several back men, recently, almost automatically called suicides.
So, trump is saying that his actions brought Juneteenth to general public awareness? And he posits that this is a good thing he did? It was inadvertent, and hardly the outcome he wanted. What has happened is that the general public has become much mor aware, attuned to, the Repug’s dog whistles. and none too soon, almost too late.
I had not been aware of Juneteenth prior to the pushback over the Tulsa rally, but I had been aware of the Tulsa massacre. SO, Trump may indeed wind up making America great, bringing us so much more together by way of his idiocy than a nice Hillary victory in 2016 could have ever done; exposing the dark, venal underbelly of the country we only had a hint about before he started his awful term in the stolen office.
I agree that it should become a Nationally celebrated day. I have already signed 3 petitions today to do exactly that.
As for tRump saying he’s made it more popular, he’s full of bologna. He showed that he was ignorant by wanting to hold his rally today.
I’d heard of Freedom Day and Liberation Day, even Emancipation Day but never of Juneteenth Day. THanks for this excellent expose, TomCat.
I think Mitch may be right that Trump drew attention to it inadvertently; then, of course, claiming it as a good thing he did and of course only showing his tone-deafnes, his incompetence and his heartlesness.
I look forward to Juneteenth becoming a Federal holiday.
And I’m curious how the racist party is going to try to block it.
The way the economy has slowed due to the pandemic, and with as many holidays as we already have, we can’t afford to have another one People need to [get back t] work!”
The racist Republican Reich will bloc k it by having Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch [R-KY] refuse to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until humans own the Senate!
Thanks and Woke hugs to all!
Like many of you, I had not heard of Juneteenth until Black protestors made a big stink over criminal Fuhrer Trump’s* abuse of the day. I wish I had known years ago.