Legally, Katie Darling was already free on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, under federal instruction to occupy the Confederate state. Backed by almost two thousand Union soldiers, Granger stood on a balcony in the center of town reading General Orders, No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free...
“Abraham Lincoln didn’t free the slaves,” she replied with frustration. “The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t free them either. Black people freed themselves.” More than a century and a half since its first celebration, Juneteenth stands to many as a stark example of Black people gaining jurisdiction, particularly during Reconstruction. It is a tradition passed down over the generations through families and communities, rather than being included in history curriculums; in 2019, a tweet urging followers to “Retweet if you don’t remember learning about Juneteenth in school” went viral with over 215,000 shares.
Ragsdale describes Juneteenth as a “pivotal part of American history”—but not because it marks a concrete line between slavery and freedom. “It showed how the white man was still able to keep us in bondage long after we were legally emancipated. I think it speaks more to the hold Caucasians had over us more than how the slaves accepted their freedom. In many ways, we’re still grappling with that bondage today.” 155 years later, the fight against systemic racism continues.
Today, recognizing the experiences of the enslaved can serve as an important reminder of the experiences of Black Americans today. Recently, I asked my mom why she felt the need to tell me that Lincoln’s signing the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t end slavery. “I realized a long time ago that Black history isn’t taught to Black children in an uplifting way,” she said. “And they focus on slavery, so it makes Black children feel bad about themselves, about who they are.
“More than a declaration, it was a day that America’s dishonesty unraveled.”
mmfa Great piece by Lindsey Norward— a must read: “...It isn’t clear where Black liberation stands in a world that still goes to blood-soaked, cruel lengths to mask and defer it. Lengths that for generations, Black people have striven to resist, to combat, to outrun.” RaceForward
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