FRNJ: Why We Celebrate Juneteenth All Month
Image courtesy of U.S. General Services Administration.
OP-ED
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
ATLANTIC CITY — Why is Front Runner New Jersey dedicating the entire month to Juneteenth?
Simply put, Juneteenth may be the most community-oriented celebration that has been turned into a national holiday ever. We were celebrating Juneteenth long before the death of George Floyd, which prompted New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to make it a state holiday and President Joe Biden to make it a national holiday.
As a native of Beaumont, Texas, we were celebrating Juneteenth before many of the people who will be organizing festivals, programs, 5K runs, etc., were even born. Growing up, we never had big Juneteenth parades, festivals with lines of vendors, or even considered making money off of it.
Back then, Juneteenth was celebrated home-by-home, block-by-block, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, with family and small group gatherings. If you had a barbecue pit, even better.
If Juneteenth, a word that combines “June” and “19”, falls at the same time as Father’s Day, then it’s a double celebration. Why not?
This was my family’s Juneteenth celebration—and for millions of other Black families in Texas and around the country—for generations. For me, it’s still a little surreal to see all the festivals and activities—even a boat cruise this year in Atlantic City—that Front Runner New Jersey will be covering this year.
Those are all fine so long as we don’t forget why we are celebrating Juneteenth in the first place. Here is the back story on the date.
Despite President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the southern states in 1863, those states rejected the order and slaves continued to be held in bondage during the Civil War.
According to the National Museum of African American History & Culture, freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, more than two years later, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas.
The Army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree. The newly freed people coined the phrase “Juneteenth” in celebration upon the news.
While all of the South practiced slavery, liberation in Texas was considered a key moment for the country. As the Confederacy started losing the Civil War to the Union, slaveholders started moving their slaves in Texas, the westernmost slave state, to keep them enslaved.
In short, Texas became U.S. slavery’s “last stand” as the war continued. More than 100,000 slaves from other states were moved to Texas during the Civil War by slaveholders still hoping for a Confederate victory.
Formerly enslaved people returned to Galveston to join those still living there on June 19, 1866, marking the first anniversary of Juneteenth. Today, Emancipation Park, formerly the Colored Emancipation Park, in Houston marks the site of one of those first Juneteenth celebrations.
Other preserved early Juneteenth celebration locations in Texas include Emancipation Park in Austin, and Emancipation Park in Mexia, now Booker T. Washington Park.
Former slaveholders did not share the same sentiment about Juneteenth. Some of these celebrations were met with violence by local Whites, and other Juneteenth celebrations were simply outlawed in some towns.
Despite that, Juneteenth celebrations grew in Texas and then outside of the state, symbolizing the end of slavery. In 1980, Texas became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. Fast forward to today, when nearly all the states and now the nation celebrates Juneteenth.
It is probably the most resilient holiday ever. Name another celebration that was started by slaves, banned in parts of the country and would eventually became a national holiday.
But the celebration now faces uncertainty. Black history has been caught up in the catch-all attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by the federal government. It remains uncertain how groups, municipalities, businesses and others will handle the holiday this year under such attacks.
With the Department of Defense and scores of other federal agencies scrubbing acknowledgments and activities surrounding Black History Month earlier this year, what will become of Juneteenth?
For me, it really doesn’t matter. See, Juneteenth belongs to the community. I would argue that it’s probably one of the most American holidays ever, because it was born and grown from the people, not some edict from the government. Juneteenth is a celebration for all Americans, because it marks a time when the United States started living up to its founding documents, marking freedom and everyone as equal.
In short, Juneteenth will survive, home-by-home, block-by-block, and neighborhood-by-neighborhood.
This is why Front Runner New Jersey celebrates Juneteenth all month long. Have a Happy Freedom Month!
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