Trying to make sense of this Juneteenth celebration. It begins when a union General, Gordon Ganger, arrived in Galveston Texas. He announced general order number three informing all Texans that President Lincoln had set all slaves free. Well, all slaves in the southern states anyway, those states in rebellion, it didn't set slaves free in the union states. This came as a surprise to the slaves in Texas as they hadn't been informed of that order. Imagine that, your captors not telling you about that. That took place, of course, on June 19, 1865. Those slaves were jubilant, and justifiably so, still there were many slaves being held in the north so not everyone was free. It wasn't until December 31, 1865 that slavery was abolished throughout the land.
Maryland, Kentucky, Delaware and Missouri allowed the holding of slaves until December 31, 1865 when the 13th amendment was ratified. Other states that came under union control during the war had to abolish slavery as a condition of readmission to the union. Those areas under under control before the war did not have to do that until the 13th amendment made it the law of the land. There were at least two thousand slaves being held in union states until that time. It seems to me that is the date that should be celebrated as it did in fact free everyone! And it needs to be pointed out that the former slave owners were the ones still denying blacks rights right up until 1964, a full 99 years after that happened. A hundred and one years since June19, 1865.
I'm just trying to make sense of a holiday that celebrates hearing a proclamation from a President, two years, 5 months and 18 days after the fact, that didn't really apply to them until after their captors were defeated. They are celebrating because they weren't told that they were free, although they hadn't been free. Others remained in bondage because that proclamation didn't apply to them, although they were in the states that fought to implement that proclamation in the first place. Just what is it that is being celebrated? A small segment of a population that heard the news 2 years, 5 months and 18 days late? Or are we celebrating freedom? If that is the case shouldn't it be celebrated when everyone was set free?
Juneteenth has been celebrated in Texas since the late 1800's. It makes sense to have a local celebration of that day, that event. It was on that day that so many were finally aware they had been set free. I'd celebrate that too! It wasn't until 1980 the state of Texas recognized that day as a state holiday. President Joe Biden made it a national holiday forty one years later. That was in response to civil unrest about the death of George Floyd and some others. It was the offering of an olive branch in my opinion.
Now a national holiday celebrating the 13th amendment would be a good idea, that is when freedom really arrived. In fact it was on December 18, 1865 when the 13th amendment was officially certified. That would be a great choice for a date to celebrate. That was the real day for freedom. Slavery was abolished throughout the land!
History can be a fascinating thing to study when you look past the dates and look into the motivations. Consider this as an example. Southern Democrats seceded from the Union because they wished to retain their "right" to hold slaves. Yes, by far the majority of those being held were African Americans but the "right" to hold someone as a slave didn't hinge on that, it was just a moral choice for economic reasons. Anyone could be held as a slave! Those same Democrats failed to tell their slaves that the president of the union had set them free. Why didn't they tell them? Now that's a silly question isn't it? So the democrats lose their war and their "right" to hold slaves. Their response was what we call the Jim Crowe era. That continued for decades, at least three generations past Juneteenth. Then in 1964 the civil rights act passes. That was the end of Jim Crowe. It took some doing as a filibuster, by Democratic Senator Byrd lasting 14 hours and 13 minutes took place. But that wasn't the longest filibuster by a Democrat concerning a civil rights bill, that honor goes to Strom Thurmond, 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the 1957 civil rights bill. Then in 2021 another Democrat, Joe Biden makes Juneteenth a national holiday. A final reckoning? Hardly, as the democrats continue in their oppression of the African American families in this nation. Jim Crowe is still kicking a bit. That control is being exercised by the same method as always, dependence upon their (democratic) benevolence. The motivation remains the same. It's an economic thing, not a morality thing. Heck, we democrats aren't bothered by any of that stuff. Buying and selling people, killing unwanted babies, whatever you like, it's all good.
Those Democrats didn't give up easily, that's a historical fact. They are still at it in fact, vote for us, we'll take care of you, you can't do it on your own! We have these "programs" you know, for you "underserved, underprivileged, uneducated, marginalized and oppressed by history people of color. We'll take care of you, hey, didn't we just give you your own holiday? Haven't we erected statues and renamed military bases, we even took Aunt Jemima off that syrup bottle, that's how much we care.
Yeah we used to think you counted as 2/3 of a person, but we've changed. Color doesn't matter to us, brown people can do the same jobs you used to do and you can see how supportive we are of them. We really did mean to tell you about that emancipation proclamation thing, but we were busy fighting a war to keep you in bondage and it just slipped our mind. And in 1957 that whole voting rights thing was just au unfortunate misunderstanding. Then again in 1964 it was just a misunderstanding, nothing personal about any of that. It's all the fault of those republicans. If they had just let us keep our "workers" none of this would have happened. But no, Lincoln had to go and make a big proclamation! Just because we bombed Fort Sumter was no reason to get all upset and start a war over it. We democrats are mostly peaceful you know. If it weren't for Democrats you wouldn't be celebrating Juneteenth at all!
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