I’m honestly shocked at the hateful comments I’ve seen all over Facebook the last week or so in response to posts about Juneteenth. I knew that racism was alive and well in this country, but I was still surprised to see people so openly racist online. Hiding behind their keyboards. Feeling safe to say whatever they want. The worst part is they are completely ignorant about the details of what Juneteenth actually is. They just can’t handle the idea that they think black people have something they don’t. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, but it has been celebrated since its creation on June 19, 1865. The fact that white Americans are just now learning about it is another example of how we were never provided with a complete history in school. There has always been an effort to “control the narrative.” The omission of Juneteenth from our history lessons should be upsetting to all of us. There is really only one reason to be against the celebration of Juneteenth. The end of (most) slavery in the United States is something that every American should be celebrating and honoring, not just African Americans. It should be celebrated the same way Independence Day is because that was the day our country experienced true freedom.
How Southern Slavery Ended
On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which gave the Confederacy until January 1, 1863, or 100 days, to end the rebellion and rejoin the Union. If they refused, he was going to confiscate their slaves. Lincoln is known as the Great Emancipator, but that was never really his goal. Reunification of the Union was always his goal. However, the South saw Lincoln as a friend of the abolitionism movement, and his win in the 1860 Presidential election had been the proverbial “last straw” for the slave owners in the South, terrified of losing their labor force and the string of secession began with South Carolina on December 20, 1860. They listed six reasons for their decision to secede, and all six related to things they saw as threats against slavery. The South went to war to protect slavery, while Lincoln went to war to force the South into reunification. Eventually, Lincoln realized emancipation was mandatory for the Union to win. Even then, it wasn’t because he believed in equality. This preliminary Proclamation restated his desire to compensate Southern slave owners for their freed slaves and colonize those former slaves outside of the US. When the first of January came, and the Confederacy still refused to surrender, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. However, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t end slavery. Instead, it freed Southern slaves by confiscating them as contraband of the Confederacy.
Where did Juneteenth Come From?
While the Emancipation Proclamation freed the Southern slaves, the Civil War continued until Robert E Lee surrendered to the Union on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. That was when Southern slaves started to be released, with many having to wait until Union soldiers arrived to enforce the Proclamation across the South. The last Southern slaves to hear that the war ended and freedom was theirs were in Texas. Union soldiers finally arrived to free the final Southern slaves on June 19, 1865. The slaves that were freed that day dubbed the day Juneteenth, and the holiday was born. A holiday that celebrates not just black freedom but American freedom. Freedom that should not have taken an additional 89 years to obtain after signing the Declaration of Independence.
Why A Complete History Education Matters
How can any American have a problem with our country formally celebrating the end of slavery? Slavery is, without question, the darkest mark on our country’s history as a whole. Unfortunately, the White supremacist ideology that allowed slavery to become an acceptable practice to white owners still remains. There is an active movement to ban race teaching in the classroom. What exactly are they afraid of? The only way to learn from our history so as not to repeat its mistakes is to understand it fully. Hitler and the Nazis committed the most unimaginable atrocities as the leaders of Germany in the 1930s and 40s. The difference is Germany requires all students to learn about the Holocaust and the evil perpetuated by the Nazi regime in school. Why do we not require our kids to learn a complete account of the worst part of our history? If we taught a complete history of slavery and the Civil War, every American would know about Juneteenth and its importance. Those who don’t learn from history will be doomed to repeat it. Those who are working to prevent history from being taught have every intention of repeating it.
Learn More About Juneteenth
Learn more about Juneteenth at the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s website.
/https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth