5 Things You Need to Know About Juneteenth
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:
Juneteenth began in Texas with late news of emancipation.
Emancipation Park in Houston began as a place to celebrate Juneteenth.
Juneteenth was widely observed following the assassination of Dr. King.
Juneteenth is not yet a national holiday.
Communities celebrate at different times.
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Episode Resources:
What is Juneteenth? (PBS)
All but four US states celebrate Juneteenth as a holiday (CNN)
Nike Joins Several Other Companies In Observing Juneteenth, Black Independence Day (OPB)
The Quintessential Americanness of Juneteenth (The Atlantic)
Juneteenth in Tulsa Is a Day of Joy and Pain. Trump’s Visit Worsens the Pain. (Slate)
The Black American Holiday Everyone Should Celebrate but Doesn’t (Slate)
How Wikipedia Became a Battleground for Racial Justice (Slate)
Transcript
Intro/ Rate & Review
Sarah: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of pantsuit politics. We are so happy to be here with you today. And before we get started, we wanted to ask you ever so sweetly, if you could pop on over to Apple podcast app and give us a rating and review, it helps new people find pantsuit politics.
And also it warms our hearts. ---When you share really, really lovely reviews like this one, it says in a time like this, there aren't both sides. You're either on the right side of history here or you aren't. And I think both Beth and Sarah have shown this through research and thoughtful discussion. Thank you for your vulnerability and willingness to learn from each other and from others I'm in turn learning from you.
Hmm. That warms my heart. Thank you so much. Lovely person who left this review has a really long username. I'm not going to read. So if you could pop over and give us a rating and review, we would be eternally grateful.
Juneteenth intro
Beth: So 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 taught 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 eye rolly 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: You know, 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, you know, Black people have been enjoying white media for a long time. we enjoy 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 doesn't, and again, it doesn't mean we appropriate, but we are all. Better.
It is something all of humanity should celebrate is 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. Okay. And two 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. And so I think the more, all of us can see, this history and embrace progress that has been made and see the impact and the progress yet to be made the better we all will be.
Beth: So 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 the national holiday and to aggregate information about how it's celebrated across the United States, which, 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: 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 the society.
Beth: 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: 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, they're jubilant dance and their fear of the unknown.
Beth: Juneteenth is a day that we commit to each other. The needed support is family, friends, and coworkers. It is a day we build coalitions that enhance African-American economics.
Sarah: 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: 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 Southeast United States to Texas in that gap between the emancipation proclamation and Union soldiers coming into Texas.
Sarah: And there are lots of stories. Yeah. 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. Number three, 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 here too, for 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 and idleness either there or elsewhere.
Beth: I think it's really important to spend a minute lingering on the text of general orders. Number three, because the way that I was sort of taught to think about Union troops was that they were like, Unimpeachably heroic and that there was an attitude of equality permeating the Union. And if you read the text of this order, very clearly shows what an exceptionally long way toward valuing all people equally we had to go. I mean, just that last sentence about, you know, they, the, the freedmen are, are not going to be allowed to just hang out. will, 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. I mean, it's just, 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: So, and it's probably not surprising to hear that everyone did not immediately obey the order. many ignored the orders, and slavers 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: 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 Gayle, 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: The second thing you needed to know. We're bringing in a guest, Mr. Griffin, Holland, who just completed a really cool out school class. If you don't know about outschool.com, I'll put the link in the show notes, by Dr. Sherry Ametta called Juneteenth and 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 and area in Houston, closely tied to the history of Juneteenth.
Griffin: It was purchased to celebrate the end of slavery, but it was too costly to open for the entire year. So when Juneteenth became a holiday, the owner is a man named Alan and four other people decided to open it for one day of the year Juneteenth where lots of people could gather on four acres 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: So the Emancipation Park began as a place to celebrate Juneteenth. It didn't stay in the owner's hands. It kind of got neglected. In the seventies, they try to revive it. And then recently they spent like the city of Houston has spent millions of dollars and now it's on, it's a UNESCO slave route heritage site.
So Emancipation Park and Houston is a really important part of Juneteenth history. And, okay, so we talked about often at Juneteenth celebration, there is red food. And what did we learn about why red food.
Griffin: It is believed that the red food theme is carried over from mainly drinks that were, may in West Africa.
Yeah. So, they think that a lot of the, West Africans in Texas at the time. Used hibiscus tea as a form of celebration in that, traditional red drink carried over and now, so at Juneteenth celebrations, you see red velvet cake and red punches and clothing and watermelon juice. And you see lots of red foods as a part of the celebration.
Sarah: Okay. Thanks for sharing what you learned Griffin.
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: so, you see a more modern adoption of Juneteenth and a spread in the late nineteen hundreds. 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 recognize 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 encourage them to use it on June 19th.
Beth: I really appreciated this description from Vann Newkirk writing in the Atlantic. He said, and it 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: And I think what you see, because it was this gradual process and it was the celebrating of sort of the last place to, to find out about the emancipation. It's really interesting in many communities across the country, you see different dates for celebration. So. for example, I don't know if y'all knew 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 and 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 selected a day in December when the 13th Amendment took a affect 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's chosen emancipation day is 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 Vann 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 like different celebrations at different times in a 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. Okay. And what you see from the history of Juneteenth celebrations across the country is that 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. is an opportunity to fully face, the complicated history, the both sort of the, the tragedy and the suffering, and also, the joyful celebration of forward momentum and the acknowledgement that it's not a straight line. but that the work continues.
Beth: Which is all particularly relevant, always. And especially at the moment we're living in given that this week we are mourning the death of Rayshard Brooks, continuing to mourn the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. We are celebrating the Supreme Court's decision to protect the LGBTQ community from employment discrimination and for now at least prevent the termination of the DACA program.
And I think what a beautiful invitation for everyone about Juneteenth is is to hold together the notion that there are victories and there is so much work and there is so much pain and we have to sit with all of it and carry all of it. And that's what we wanted to do here today. We will return to much of the breaking news on Tuesday's episode.
We're going to talk a little bit about foreign policy on Tuesday. Cause there's a big world out there that we haven't gotten to spend a whole lot of time on given everything that's happening in the United States lately. You can hear detailed breakdowns of our Supreme court analysis on the nightly nuance.
And of course, Sarah is keeping you informed every morning on Instagram and our news brief. So we'll see you in those places. We hope that you have a great weekend. We hope that Juneteenth celebrations all over this country are beautiful and surrounded by communities that really honor the holiday. Keep it nuanced, y'all.