By Richard Holmes Parishioner at Curé d’Ars Parish, Denver
Some view Juneteenth as “America’s Second Independence Day” or “Freedom Day,” but to clearly understand the significance of that fateful day, we must turn back the clock to a period in our nation’s history that tested its very existence and whether the familiar opening words of our Constitution, “We the People,” would apply to every American.
The History
June 19, 1865 was the day that started the process that led to as many as 250,000 enslaved men, women and children in the State of Texas being made aware of their emancipation. Their freedom had been granted by President Abraham Lincoln two-and-a-half years prior with the Emancipation Proclamation of September 22, 1862. What ensued, as a direct result, was the creation of the Confederate States of America and its determination to secede from the Union, bringing about the bloody Civil War that cost an estimated 850,000 Americans their lives.
The Civil War officially ended when General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Confederate Army, surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. However, the war waged on as the last Confederate Army holdouts found a temporary safe haven from the victorious, approaching Union Army in the State of Texas. It was there that battles and skirmishes persisted and the “peculiar institution” of slavery continued to exist. Depending on how isolated the enslaved were from the approaching Union Army, networks of information or escape routes, bondage continued well into 1865, despite Lee’s surrender.
The Significance
As described by Erin Stewart Mauldin, Professor of Southern History at the University of South Florida and an expert on the Civil War and Reconstruction, “Juneteenth isn’t a straightforward story of emancipation, nor did it necessarily improve conditions for many African Americans the next day or even the next decade.”
“Juneteenth is neither the beginning nor the end of something,” Mauldin said. “The end of the Civil War and the ending of slavery didn’t happen overnight and was more like a jagged edge than a clean cut.”
African Americans in Texas remained enslaved until Major General Gordon Granger and 2,000 Union troops came to deliver the message and ordered the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation when he read the official order in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
“It is immensely important to remember the difficulties of fighting and securing even the smallest measures of freedom,” said Mauldin. “Juneteenth has become a symbol for Emancipation and provides a highly visible celebration that does get at these difficult conversations of America’s racial history.”
Major General Grangers’ Decree & the First Juneteenth
“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves,” the decree read.
With this notice, the Reconstruction Era in Texas began. This proclamation officially brought the last vestiges of sanctioned human bondage in this country to a close!
One can only imagine the complexity of emotions experienced and shared by those gathered there on that fateful day in 1865, both black and white.
The first official Juneteenth celebrations were held on June 19, 1866, in Galveston and Houston, Texas, and quickly spread throughout the West.
Juneteenth Today
The day was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. In the years leading up to and following the national recognition, local municipalities and event organizers have expanded their Juneteenth celebrations to include televised parades, pageants and block parties. Community organizers often create programming around specific issues, such as improving mental health in the black community, gun control, reimagining black liberation and honoring ancestors.
Today, Juneteenth celebrations are held nationwide, with the City of Philadelphia’s Juneteenth Music Festival considered the largest. Denver, Colorado; Memphis, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Las Vegas, Nevada; Columbia, South Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona; and Omaha, Nebraska; and the Caribbean Island of Barbados also host annual Juneteenth celebrations.
Locally, on May 2, 2022, Governor Jared Polis signed into law a bill passed by the State Legislature to make Juneteenth Colorado’s eleventh official state holiday, but the groundwork was laid decades prior through the efforts of many dedicated individuals.
Otha P. Rice, a native of Texas, brought the Juneteenth celebration to 28th and Welton Streets in the Historic Five Points Neighborhood in the early 1950s.
In 1966, Al Richardson, also a Colorado transplant from Texas, adopted the celebration for the Five Points Business Association (FPBA). Since then, the FPBA has spearheaded a colorful annual four-day, family-oriented festival and celebration that has grown to be one of the largest of its kind in honor of the historic document delivered at Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
As we continue our annual celebration of the legacy of this “landmark event,” let us praise God as his glory is manifested in our commemoration of freedom and the triumph of the human spirit.
It is this author’s prayer that the entire nation embraces the spirit and the immense significance of what happened here. It is a shining example of who and what we should all aspire to be as men and women made in the image of God the Father!