Little is known about the annual African American observance known as Juneteenth. Only a small number of African Americans acknowledge it because so few know the history of it. Yet another Juneteenth has come and gone with very little attention paid to it.
The name Juneteenth is a cross between the words June and 19th. Juneteenth is said to be the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of African Enslavement in America.
On June 19th 1865 Union Soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston Texas with news that the Civil War was over and that those that were being held as slaves were now free. This incident was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which was put into effect on January 1st 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation did not effect Texas right away because there was only a small amount of Union Troops to enforce the newly established Executive Order. After General Lee surrendered in April of 1865, and with the arrival of General Grangers' regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to overwhelm the resistance.
The Emancipation Proclamation is technically not a law. It is what it says it is, a "proclamation". A proclamation is a public announcement by elected officials or an executive order. Executive orders act as laws but are technically not law.
Further study of the 13th Amendment, that allegedly abolished slavery, will uncover the fact that slavery was never abolished in America. The 13th Amendment reads: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." This amendment is basically saying that slavery is abolished except as punishment for a crime. Which means that those people that are in correctional facilities are being held as slaves- according to the law.
After the Emancipation Proclamation did away with chattel slavery other forms of slavery were instituted to replace it. After reconstruction, laws known as Black Codes were brought about to keep the institution of slavery alive. These laws were a way of keeping blacks from benefiting from a free society like America and keeping the legacy of slavery alive. Convict Leasing, a subtle form of slavery, was alive and thriving in America until the end of World War 2 in the 1940s. Vagrancy laws were used to apprehend black men and force them to work for free for corporations that would lease them to extort free labor from them.
Today, the mass incarceration of black men is the latest form of African enslavement. The 13th Amendment says "slavery is abolished except as punishment of a crime." Those people incarcerated in state prisons are referred to as "state property", which means that they are slaves owned by the state. The 13th Amendment is very clear and self explanatory. It is not a coincidence that a majority of the prison population is black men. Study of data will uncover the fact that the fastest growing population in prisons is now black women.
The Juneteenth observance only acknowledges the end of chattel slavery in 1865. Should people of African origin in America observe Juneteenth? Yes. Africans in America need to fully understand and acknowledge every aspect of their history with respect to slavery. Africans in America also need to be aware of the ongoing and far more subtle forms of slavery today and launch an organized campaign against them. Unfortunately we live in a consumer culture and in a world were being dumbed down by reality television is ok. These distractions make it impossible for us to know our present condition let alone our history.
Recently an article asked if Juneteenth should be observed the way Flag Day is observed. The answer is yes. In the melting pot of American society, every group of people speak a language that is exclusively their own- except African Americans, and every group has holidays and observances that are exclusively their own. African people need to hold fast to holidays that relate to their history and culture.