Today is Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, which commemorates the emancipation from slavery in the United States. In honor of the day, and the critical turning point it represents, we rounded up six facts:
Today may feel like just another Tuesday, but it is actually a day of celebration for many. Just check your iPhone—Apple recently expanded the holidays noted on its U.S. calendar—you’ll find that today is Juneteenth. For many, Juneteenth is a day of American patriotism, celebrated with barbecues and baseball games, parades and parties, rodeos and reunions, much like the Fourth of July. Confused? Read on to find out why some refer to Juneteenth as the Black Fourth of July or America’s second Independence Day.
The key fact is that July 4, 1776, symbolizes the day when white Americans became free. Enslaved black Americans did not. Many of us, myself included, forget this on Independence Day. But, it wasn’t until almost 100 years later that the Emancipation Proclamation eliminated slavery, and more than two years after that when the end of slavery was actually communicated to all who were enslaved. For that reason, Independence Day has always been a poorly and ironically named holiday. Abolitionist (and formerly enslaved American) Frederick Douglass made this point on Independence Day, 1852: “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is constant victim.”
That is a pretty massive asterisk on a day we equate with liberty and freedom. Independence Day might be more accurately thought of as Independence Day*, where the asterisk signals a “certain terms and conditions may apply” caveat to the celebration of independence.
This brings us to Juneteenth, also known as June 19. Juneteenth started in Texas in 1865 when 250,000 enslaved people were liberated (note the delay - the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863). Historians debate which is the right date to commemorate the end of slavery; in fact, some African-Americans worship in Watch Night church services on New Year’s Eve. Unpacking all of the historical details is complicated; it’s a bit of a long story. But culturally speaking, June 19 has taken on the symbolic meaning of the day when the land of the free became less of a false narrative.
If you have not heard of Juneteenth, you are not alone. Statistics about how many Americans know about Juneteenth are hard to come by but I did a non-scientific poll of friends and acquaintances across the country and three patterns emerged. If you are of any race and have lived in Texas, or if you are African-American living anywhere in the United States, or if you caught the Juneteenth episodes of the hit TV shows Atlanta in 2018 or Black-ish in 2017, the odds seem higher that you know about Juneteenth. Some people told me they attended Juneteenth celebrations every year. Others told me that they look forward to seeing joyous photos and jubilant videos from Juneteenth celebrations throughout the United States, even if they did not attend them in person. Many reported that social media has made the day and its celebrations more visible.
Still, some who had not heard of Juneteenth seemed genuinely surprised to hear it was a thing and until a few years ago, I was in this group. But once you start to read a bit, it becomes clear that this is not a new or made-up or greeting card holiday. Apple did not go rogue with their calendar. Juneteenth is officially recognized or observed in at least 45 states plus the District of Columbia. It is a known and meaningful day to many Americans, which brings up the question of why it is not a known and meaningful day to all Americans.
Our awareness gap may be reflective of a more significant issue. Historiographer James Loewen—who studies how we study history—spent two years at the Smithsonian studying American history textbooks. He found that they tend to present slavery as if it was an external event, like a natural disaster. “Somehow we ended up with four million slaves in America but no owners,” he writes in Lies My Teacher Told Me. Bestselling author Ta-Nehisi Coates writes of “patriotism a la carte” in which we celebrate the veteran and forget the slave owner. Writer Vann R. Newkirk II speaks of the “dizzying contradiction” that is America and the “belated liberation” Juneteenth celebrates. He says “Juneteenth is the purest distillation of the evils that still plague America, and a celebration of the good people who fought those evils. It is tragedy and comedy, hope and setbacks.” Celebrating July 4, but dismissing June 19, sells America short.
If we remember only July 4, we not only misremember the past, we misunderstand the present. Most of us are in organizations actively engaged in diversity and inclusion efforts. Many of us are navigating a complicated racial landscape in our country. These efforts are in vain in a historical or cultural vacuum. We see only symptoms – the persistent and potentially deadly cough – but fail to diagnose what led to that cough. Without the right diagnosis, we only treat symptoms. We put in the training program and fight the class action suit, but our underlying illness remains. Most of us want to go beyond the symptoms and there are ways to do this.
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Let freedom ring! Today is Juneteenth
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, will be marked in many communities on Tuesday. (Others celebrated over the weekend.) The holiday originated on June 19, 1865, when Union Army Major Gen. Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas, to inform a reluctant community that President Abraham Lincoln two years earlier had freed the slaves. The name Juneteenth is a merging of "June" and "nineteenth." Events include parades, picnics and celebrations of African-American heritage.
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Contributing: Associated Press
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Ask even your most detailed of history buffs what “Juneteenth” is and they will probably look at you like you have hardtack on your face. The name is funny-sounding enough, and the actual day is pretty vague to a lot of people — even though it’s very significant in American history, and especially African-American history.
After President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House at the end of the Civil War there was a lag time before the good news spread southward (especially since defeated confederates were in no hurry to give up the free labor they’d built their riches on). As huge of an impact as the War made on our nation, the fighting was only limited to certain regions, and because no one was Googling or live-streaming anything back then, spreading the word took a while (again, a lot of people were invested in slowing it down).
Thus, while the Emancipation Proclamation officially freed the slaves January 1, 1863, slaves in bondage in the South didn’t get the good news until June 19, 1865 (hence the portmanteau “Juneteenth”) when Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his soldiers landed in Galveston, TX to spread the word that slavery had officially ended in America. That means that for two whole years and some change, Southern slaves were still in bondage only in name — because legally, they were free.
