Monday, June 15, 2020

Celebrating Juneteenth

June 19 is a special day that, unfortunately, is overlooked and/or disregarded widely by the dominant culture in the U.S. But Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19 each year, is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the U.S.  
The Beginning of Juneteenth
The Civil War officially ended on June 2, 1865. But, much earlier, the Emancipation Proclamation became official on January 1, 1863, so the slaves in Texas were technically freed on that date.
It was not until June 19, 1865, however, that Major General Gordon Granger and his Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas, and announced that the Civil War had ended and that all enslaved persons were free.
Granger read “General Order Number 3” to his audience in Galveston. It began,
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 heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.
That was the beginning of Juneteenth.
Large celebrations on June 19 began in 1866 and continued regularly into the early 20th century. Throughout much of the 20th century, though, there was a decline in the celebration of Juneteenth.
But then in 1980, Juneteenth became a legal state holiday in Texas. By 2000, only three other states had followed Texas’ example. But now Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in 47 of the 50 states and in D.C.
The Celebration of Juneteenth
One of the most meaningful events I attended last year was the local Juneteenth banquet, which I mentioned in this blog post. Unfortunately, because of the covid-19 pandemic, there will not be a local in-person gathering this year and few nationwide.
But I am wondering if the strong opposition to, and removal of, Confederate statues and other memorials cannot be seen as this year’s Juneteenth celebration.
Juneteenth is sometimes called Black Independence Day. Certainly, for the enslaved people in the U.S. before 1865, July 4 had little significance, for as Frederick Douglass asked in his famous July 5, 1852, speech, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"
It goes without saying that after the Revolutionary War there were no monuments or statues to King George III of the UK or any British monarch or military man in the U.S. There was no honoring of the opponents of freedom.
Since Juneteenth is the celebration of freedom for the formerly enslaved people of the U.S. and their descendants, why should statues and monuments honoring the military men who fought in opposition to their freedom be allowed on public property?
Ideally, those monuments should be removed in a legal and orderly manner, not by “lynching.” But they should be removed—and, yes, that is a way that Juneteenth can be meaningfully celebrated this year.
The Antithetical Celebration of Juneteenth
As the mainstream news media widely reported last week, DJT was scheduled to go to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a political rally on June 19.
Plans for a racist President, who a WaPo columnist recently said “might go down in history as the last president of the Confederacy,” to hold a rally on Juneteenth in a city marking the 99th anniversary of terrible white-on-black violence raised the hackles of many.
Consequently, late last Friday night DJT tweeted that the MAGA rally would be postponed a day and be held on June 20. Yet, that also happens to be the day of many Juneteenth celebrations since it is a Saturday—and even downtown Tulsa (see here) is planning its Juneteenth celebration from 11 a.m. on the 19th to midnight on the 20th.
No, holding a political rally in Tulsa on June 19 or 20 is NOT a proper way to celebrate Juneteenth.
But, seeking/supporting the removal of statues and/or monuments that honor those who fought against the freedom, equality, and dignity of enslaved people—or the removal of names of blatant racists on public facilities—is one excellent way to celebrate Juneteenth this year.


15 comments:

  1. I appreciate these affirmative words of Temp Sparkman, another local Thinking Friend:

    "Morning, Leroy. Your piece is timely, thorough, and your arguments sound."

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  2. Here are pertinent comments from Thinking Friend Glenn Hinson in Kentucky:

    "Kentucky removed Friday the statue of Jefferson Davis, the one and only president of the confederacy, from its Capitol building.

    "I hope nobody attends Trump’s rally in Tulsa because of the anniversary of the massacre in 'Black Wall Street' either. How obtuse can an ordinary bloke much less a president be?"

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  3. Thanks for your comments, Dr. Hinson. I hadn't heard about the removal of the Davis statue, but surely that was something long overdue. I found the article about that in The Guardian quite interesting:
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/13/jefferson-davis-statue-removal-kentucky-jim-crow

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  4. Regarding renaming the fountain and parkway in the Country Club Plaza area of KC, I'm very ambivalent, especially since I've seen no buy-in from Black Lives Matter or black clergy in KC. MLK Boulevard was proposed for Paseo, mainly, I think, because it runs through the black neighborhoods, and is well-maintained and is relatively long. In general, I think obsessing about statues, fountains, street names is superficial — these are past "micro-aggressions" which pale in comparison to current police brutality, mass incarceration, loss of voting rights, and capital punishment. Let's keep our "eyes on the prize" of the macro issues first!

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    1. Phil, you and I usually agree on most social issues, but I am not in agreement with your ambivalence here. Sure, the main issues are police brutality, mass incarceration, loss of voting rights, and capital punishment. But it is going to be a long, slow process for those social ills to be remedied.

      On the other hand, removing statues and renaming fountains and street names can be done quickly, and I think the symbolic value of doing so is significant.

      The Black Lives Matter and black clergy in KC may be working most on the big issues, which probably they should, but, still, I think that changing the name of the J.C. Nichols Fountain and Parkway would definitely support their efforts.

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  5. Here are significant comments from Glen Davis, a Canadian Thinking Friend and good personal friend from the years we lived in the same city (Fukuoka) in Japan:

    "Far be it for me as a Canadian to claim any legitimacy to comment on the significance of Juneteenth for the American people. But I just want to point out that history witnesses to the ways adopted by 20th century presidents and lawmakers in the U.S. (e.g. Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Clinton) that have kept African Americans enslaved in new ways, like criminalization of black people characterized as enemies of law and order, mass incarceration of African Americans whose forced (slave) labour kept corporate America profitable.

    "I do hope that you and your readers will take the opportunity to see the Netflix documentary called “13th”. It was an astounding eye-opener for me, and it exposes the roots of police violence and systemic racism. Unfortunately, we Canadians have no cause for self-congratulation because systemic racism is alive and well here too, even if it seems less blatant than in the U.S. I highly recommend this film.

    "Maybe it will help us to see that Juneteenth celebrations need to be muted until true freedom and equality become a reality both in the USA and here in Canada too!"

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    1. Thanks so much for your comments, Glen.

      As a matter of fact, June and I watched "13th" on Friday evening, and yesterday we joined about 25 others of our church family for a Zoom discussion of that movie and related issues. I fully agree with your high recommendation of the movie.

      As I understand it, though, one of the main purposes of celebrating Juneteenth is pushing for the day when true freedom and equality become a reality--a day of hope that the promise of the past will, indeed, become a reality in the near future.

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  6. One of the popular Civil War myths is that it was fought over states' rights, not slavery. From the Battle Hymn of the Republic to Juneteenth, the truth of the battle for freedom is marching on. Our nation's holidays and monuments play a key role in reminding everyone of key points of our principles and history. Names, statues, and holidays each mark a step in the march.

    As a citizen of greater Kansas City, I was disappointed when the name change from Paseo to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. was reversed after the new name was already going up, because some people were "nostalgic" for the name Paseo. Note that Paseo is not even named after a person, it from the Spanish word for a walk or promenade, which was part of the name of a major street in Mexico City. For a look at the controversy a few months ago, read here: w.kshb.com/news/local-news/the-history-of-the-paseo-and-why-some-neighbors-are-against-changing-the-name

    The recent push to rename J. C. Nichols Parkway and Fountain was a creative response to those "nostalgic" defenders of Paseo Blvd. From the mayor to the Chamber of Commerce the name change is gaining momentum. I hope a similar momentum takes Juneteenth from Texas to national. It would be a good chance to remember every year why the Civil War was fought. Or just read the text of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It is no less direct than its predecessor, the song John Brown's Body (lies amoldering in the grave...) For more recent information about the Nichols renaming in KC, see here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article243504851.html

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  7. Thanks for your comments (and the links), Craig.

    Yes, I am all for making Juneteenth a national holiday, and perhaps the events of this year will result in that being done.

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  8. Last night, local Thinking Friend Bob Leeper emailed me the following comments:

    "It is so Trump-like for him and his henchman Miller to try to Step on this historic day for so many generations who recall Tulsa 99 years ago AND Juneteenth!! Thanks for spotlighting this holiday which I had barely understood! Your messages are a good bit of night school class for me every week."

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  9. I have a considerable amount of emotion concerning what is occurring in our country today related to racism. I am forced, however, to put all emotion aside and say we must do what is right and that is stop glorifying the "Lost Cause" and the divisions it perpetuates. Confederate memorials of any kind have a place only in museums so we are never allowed to forget this terrible stain on our history.

    Old Testament prophets did not always understand the depth of the meaning in their words. I choose to believe the same thing could be said of the Founding Fathers. "All men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." That goes for all men and all women. Christians are called to live out that thought understood as it is throughout the NT.

    I still disagree with the reason the Civil War was fought. For me it is federalism versus states' rights. Slavery became the most visible flash point. It could have been interstate commerce, definition of marriage, etc. Follows a quote from a Lincoln essay.

    “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy slavery,” he wrote in an editorial published in the Daily National Intelligencer in August 1862. “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”
    https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/emancipation-proclamation

    Later writings show Lincoln becoming more adamant about the elimination of slavery on American soil, but in 1861 that was not his greatest concern.

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  10. Thanks for your comments, Tom. It was good to hear from you again.

    In my May 10, 2011, blog post I wrote something similar to what you wrote at the end of your comments. I hope you (and others) will read that post.

    But in that article, and the point I want to make here, is that by the end of 1862 ending slavery was not only foremost in Lincoln's mind, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863--more than two years before the Civil War ended.

    (Here is the link to that article: https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2011/05/enslaved-to-system.html)

    So it was that Juneteenth began in 1865 when the enslaved people in Texas were finally able to hear the words of the Emancipation Proclamation for the first time.

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  11. This is an excellent article Dr Seat. I especially appreciate the observation between Juneteenth and the confederate statues being removed. It is beyond time for our nation to embrace and teach the less palatable parts of hour history. We can no longer gloss over it. Doing so is a disservice to our nation and to the coming generations.

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  12. Here are (belated) comments from Thinking Friend Virginia Belk in New Mexico:

    "I'm a day late and a dollar short, but I agree wholeheartedly with your proposal!

    . . . . I am also encouraged by the recent movement to remove offensive statues, rename streets, and especially with the growing clamor to make Juneteenth a federal holiday!"

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