5 Things You Need to Know About Juneteenth (2023)

Juneteenth is the oldest national commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. Today, it celebrates African American freedom and achievement. We're breaking down a few of the facts about Juneteenth that you should know as you celebrate today.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT JUNETEENTH

  1. Juneteenth began in Texas with late news of emancipation.

  2. Emancipation Park in Houston began as a place to celebrate Juneteenth.

  3. Juneteenth was widely observed following the assassination of Dr. King.

  4. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, although not all states observe it.

  5. Communities celebrate at different times.

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EPISODE RESOURCES

TRANSCRIPT

Sarah [00:00:07] This is Sarah Stewart Holland.

Beth [00:00:08] And this is Beth Silvers.

Sarah [00:00:10] Thank you for joining us for Pantsuit Politics.

Alise [00:00:26] Hi, everyone. This is Alise, the managing director of Pantsuit Politics. Our team is out today in recognition of the federal holiday Juneteenth. Back in 2020, Sarah and Beth recorded an episode with five Things you Need to Know about Juneteenth. So it seemed fitting to share that with you again today. As you'll hear in the episode, some things have changed in the past three years. In the episode, the fourth thing to know is that Juneteenth isn't recognized as a federal holiday. However, here we are recognizing it just a few years later. It was officially established as a federal holiday on June 17th, 2021. This made it the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr Day was adopted in 1983. We're hoping this exploration of the history behind the day will be part of your own recognition of this important moment in American history. Thank you so much for listening.

Beth [00:01:22] Today is a special day in the United States. It is Juneteenth. We are going to endeavor to share with you some things that we are learning about Juneteenth that we think all Americans should know and that unfortunately were not talked to us in our schools. We also recognize that we are two white ladies having this conversation, and we do not want to in any way be appropriative or condescending or eyerolly or cringy in any respect. And we will probably not make it through this whole episode without creating one of those moments for you and ourselves later. And so, we're just trying to hold some grace here because what we do think is important is to use the time that we have with our audience, who we cherish, talking about things that we didn't learn enough about in school and that haven't been talked about enough in our mostly white communities. And so, if you already know and live and celebrate everything underlying Juneteenth, you might find this unhelpful. But I hope that, you know, the spirit of it is solidarity and respect and trying to honor this holiday and to spread it beyond just the people who still relate to both the pain and liberation that Juneteenth represents.

Sarah [00:02:42] I think a lot about a talk I heard Tracy Clayton give at Podcast Movement, former host of Another Round and a friend of ours from college who said black people have enjoyed white media for a long time. We enjoyed things created for you, so there's nothing wrong with you enjoying things created for us. And that's sort of the spirit I think is important about Juneteenth. I don't think any sort of progress is made by treating Juneteenth as something only the black community can celebrate. Now, that again doesn't mean we appropriate, but we are all better. It is something all of humanity should celebrate. It's the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. That is something that serves every single American citizen, and it is something we should celebrate as an essential step forward in our nation's history. And to segregate the holiday and say, "Oh, it's only for this community," to me, continues to segregate the idea or perpetuate the idea that slavery only hurt the African-American community, which, of course, is not true. It was a cancer. It's a cancer we are still dealing with. I think the more all of us can see this history and embrace the progress that has been made and see the impact and the progress yet to be made, the better we all will be.

Beth [00:04:17] I thought it would be nice to read the description of Juneteenth from Juneteenth.com, which has been working for years to try to make Juneteenth a national holiday and to aggregate information about how it's celebrated across the United States, which as we'll talk about in a second, differs from community to community. So this is what they say. Juneteenth is a day of reflection, a day of renewal, a pride filled day. It is a moment in time taken to appreciate the African-American experience. It is inclusive of all races, ethnicities and nationalities, as nothing is more comforting than the hand of a friend.

Sarah [00:04:52] Juneteenth serves symbolically and in reality as a reference point from which to measure and appreciate the progress and contributions made by African-Americans to this society.

Beth [00:05:01] Juneteenth is a day on which honor and respect is paid for the sufferings of slavery. It is a day on which we acknowledge the evils of slavery and its aftermath. On Juneteenth, we talk about our history and realize because of it there will forever be a bond between us.

Sarah [00:05:16] On Juneteenth, we think about that moment in time when the enslaved in Galveston, Texas, received word of their freedom. We imagine the depth of their emotions, their jubilant dance, and their fear of the unknown.

Beth [00:05:29] Juneteenth is a day that we commit to each other, the needed support as family, friends and coworkers. It is a day we build coalitions that enhance African-American economics.

Sarah [00:05:39] On Juneteenth, we come together, young and old, to listen, to learn and to refresh the drive to achieve. It is a day where we all take one step closer to better utilize the energy wasted on racism. Juneteenth is a day that we pray for peace and liberty for all.

Beth [00:05:56] And we'll put in the show notes a link for you to find that passage and all of the great information at Juneteenth.com. The first thing we wanted to share is more about that history. So that commemoration mentioned Galveston, Texas. On June 19th of 1865, union soldiers came into Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended. And if you're doing the math, that's two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, which became official January 1st of 1863. But that proclamation didn't go very far in Texas for a lot of reasons. There weren't enough union troops there to enforce the order. There are lots of theories about why this news took so long to get there. And in that two and a half years, enslavers from Mississippi and Louisiana and other parts of the Southeast migrated with enslaved people to Texas to escape the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation. So more than 150,000 enslaved people were moved from the southeastern United States to Texas in that gap between the Emancipation Proclamation and Union soldiers coming into Texas.

Sarah [00:07:08] And there are lots of stories and theories about why it took so long for the news to reach Texans. There's a story that the messenger was murdered. There is a story that the news was deliberately withheld in particular by enslavers. And there's a story that federal troops waited for slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before showing up with the news that the enslaved people had been set free. But when General Gordon Granger's regiment arrived in 1865, their forces were strong enough to finally enforce the order and overcome resistance. He issued General Orders No. 3 and this is the text, "The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the U.S., all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connections heretofore existing between them becomes the between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military post and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."

Beth [00:08:11] I think it's really important to spend a minute lingering on the text of General Orders No.3 because the way that I was sort of taught to think about union troops was that they were like unimpeccably heroic, and that there was an attitude of equality permeating the union. And if you read the text of this order, it very clearly shows what an exceptionally long way toward valuing all people equally we had to go. I mean, just that last sentence about the freedmen are are not going to be allowed to just hang out. Well, they're like making an assumption that enslaved people were going to go from the long, hard, incredibly laborious days that they were required to put in, to doing nothing. It's a really sad reflection on how even the people I was taught to think of as the good guys, without any complexity, felt about enslaved people at that moment in history.

Sarah [00:09:16] So it's probably not surprising to hear that everyone did not immediately obey the order. Enslavers beat and shot enslaved people who were trying to leave and claim their freedom. Historian Elizabeth Hayes Turner tells of an enslaved woman, Katie Darling, who was continuously enslaved after the order came out for another six years. Six years.

Beth [00:09:43] So despite all of the ugliness that preceded and followed General Granger's arrival, the freed people in Texas celebrated June 19th with barbecues and gatherings, prayers and songs and readings. And since then, it has been thought of as both celebratory and painful. I love this description from Caleb Gale, and we'll put a link to his piece about this in the show notes too. He said, "Juneteenth plays stage to what black families love doing most, celebrating life. No matter how much we have had to fight for it, Juneteenth has always been a difficult celebration for black people on two dimensions. We celebrate that we are no longer enslaved in this country while realizing that this country has been morally bankrupt for devaluing and enslaving us in the first place."

Sarah [00:10:39] The second thing you needed to know, we're bringing in a guest, Mr. Griffin Holland, who just completed a really cool Outschool class. If you don't know about Outschool.com, I'll put the link in the show notes by Dr. Sherry Amata [sp] called Juneteenth an exploration of the celebration of freedom. So he's going to share some additional information about Juneteenth. Specifically, he is going to tell us about Emancipation Park, an area in Houston closely tied to the history of Juneteenth.

Griffin [00:11:15] It was purchased to celebrate the end of slavery, but was too costly to open for the entire year. So when Juneteenth became a holiday, the owner, a man named Allen, and four other people decided to open it for one day of the year, Juneteenth, where lots of people could gather around four acre that they bought to celebrate Juneteenth. They celebrate it mainly by eating foods that are generally red. This is a different topic, but it's in my notes.

Sarah [00:11:47] So the Emancipation Park began as a place to celebrate Juneteenth. It didn't stay in the owners hands. It kind of got neglected in the seventies. They tried to revive it. And then recently the city of Houston spent millions of dollars, and now it's a UNESCO's Slave Route Heritage Site. So Emancipation Park in Houston is a really important part of Juneteenth history. We talked about often at Juneteenth celebration there is red food, and what did we learn about why red food?

Griffin [00:12:23] It is believed that the red food theme is carried over from the mainly drinks that were made in West Africa.

Sarah [00:12:31] Yeah. So they think that a lot of the West Africans in Texas at the time used hibiscus tea as a form of celebration, and that traditional red drink carried over. And now so at Juneteenth celebrations you see red velvet cake and red punches and red clothing and watermelon juice, and you see lots of red foods as a part of the celebration.

Griffin [00:12:52] Okay.

Sarah [00:12:53] Thanks for sharing what you learned, Griffin.

Beth [00:12:55] The third thing that we want to share is that Juneteenth gained national attention and spread more widely following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in 1968. Coretta Scott King and Ralph Abernathy cut short the Poor People's March on June 19th to commemorate Juneteenth. And this is what really started to spread Juneteenth outside of Texas.

Sarah [00:13:20] So you see a more modern adoption of Juneteenth and a spread in the late 1900s. And then more recently, you've probably seen a lot of discussion over social media with companies like Twitter saying they're going to begin to give June 19th off to all employees and sort of reviving the conversation about Juneteenth as a national holiday. It is not yet a national holiday, and that's the fourth thing we want you to know. The Senate has passed a resolution last year recognizing Juneteenth, Independence Day, but the House hasn't yet approved it. It is recognized by 46 states and the District of Columbia. Only Hawaii, North Dakota and South Dakota don't officially recognized Juneteenth. The NFL Twitter Square have now recognized it as a day off for celebration, education, and connection. And The New York Times gave employees an additional day off and encouraged them to use it on June 19.

Beth [00:14:10] I really appreciated this description from Ben Newkirk writing in The Atlantic, he said, "And it's spread across the country and gradual supplanting of other emancipation celebrations. Juneteenth has always retained that sense of belatedness. It is the observance of a victory delayed, a foot dragging, and desperate resistance by white supremacy against the tide of human rights and of illegal freedom trampled by the might of state violence. As the belated emancipation embedded in the holiday foretold generations of black codes, forced labor, racial terror, police brutality, and a century long regime of Jim Crow, it also imbued the holiday with a sense of Sisyphean prospect of an abridged liberty with full citizenship always taunting and tantalizing, but just one more protest down the road.

Sarah [00:15:10] And I think what you see, because it was this gradual process and it was the celebration of sort of the last place just to find out about the emancipation, it's really interesting. And many communities across the country, you see different dates for celebration. So, for example, I don't know if y'all know this, I live in Paducah, Kentucky. And in Paducah, the Juneteenth conversation kind of left me bewildered in the beginning because in Paducah we celebrate on the 8th of August, and it's a very big deal because that's the day that African-Americans in Paducah learned of emancipation. This is from Explorekentuckyhistory.com. These yearly occasions fell on different days of the calendar for several reasons. Most often, Emancipation Day celebrations fell on January 1st. This day was popular because Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on that day in 1863. Some communities instead chose to celebrate on September 22nd, the day when the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1862. Other communities chose to honor April 9th, the day in 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. Still others elected a day in December when the 13th Amendment took effect, or the various days when the Union Army occupied their town or county. In Texas, the most popular day was June 19th, also known as Juneteenth. On that day in 1865, slaves in Texas heard that the war was over and they were free.

Paducah has chosen Emancipation Day as somewhat unique. According to the August 8th, 1905 edition of the Paducah Daily News Democrat, the day was chosen because it was when slaves in Santo Domingo, Haiti, earned their freedom. Haiti was the first black republic established in the Western Hemisphere after a slave uprising that began in 1791. And I think that's so interesting. I think it speaks to exactly that quote from Van Newkirk, that this was so slow and disjointed in a way. And even if it was announced, just what we saw from the history in Texas, it's not like it was immediate and everybody was automatically free. And so, you have I think these different celebrations at different times. And really kind of beautiful way illustrate the sort of broken, disjointed nature of emancipation. Because, like you said, I think we're taught, oh, well, the Union Army was good. They wanted to abolish slavery. We sent the Emancipation Proclamation and everybody was free. And what you see from the history of Juneteenth and celebrations across the country is that was simply not the case. We didn't just end slavery and move on. We didn't and do not fix racism and move on. And I think that that's really what Juneteenth offers us, right? It's an opportunity to fully face the complicated history, the both sort of tragedy and the suffering and also the joyful celebration of forward momentum and the acknowledgment that it's not a straight line, but that the work continues.

Beth [00:18:11] And that's the invitation for everyone about Juneteenth, to hold together the notion that there are victories and still so much work to do and that there is pain that we have to sit with and carry. And we wanted to do that today, to just consider all of these things together and know that we'll continue to move forward together. Thank you so much for joining us. Everybody, have the best day available to you.

Beth Pantsuit Politics is produced by Studio D Podcast Production. Alise Napp is our managing director.

Sarah Maggie Penton is our community engagement manager. Dante Lima is the composer and performer of our theme music.

Beth Our show is listener-supported. Special thanks to our executive producers.

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