This Friday, we'll celebrate the newest and (to my mind) least understood of our national holidays, Juneteenth. Some disparagingly refer to Juneteenth — a portmanteau of the words “June” and “nineteenth" — as “another Black holiday” to go along with MLK, Jr. Day. Besides reflecting at best, an underlying dismissiveness, and at worst, outright racism, that perspective shows a complete misunderstanding of this holiday, our history, and national observances generally. By the end of this essay, I hope you'll join me in acknowledging that this is perhaps the most “American” holiday on the calendar — one that's a fitting lead-in to Independence Day in a few weeks.
Juneteenth this year takes on even greater meaning for me than usual. In our current moment, there are debates about the appropriateness of initiatives focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. While there are legitimate debates to be had about the extent and application of DEI initiatives, to toss away the underlying virtue of the idea — to increase opportunity and accessibility — would be an error. Anti-DEI attacks have led to the conclusion by some that the accomplishments of Black people can only be the result of a “thumb on the scale.”
This is an ignorant direct assault on the accomplishments, abilities, and role in society of so many of our fellow citizens. And the notion that anyone of Black heritage must have gotten there through means other than merit has extended to our government, where a startling percentage of Black military leaders have found their promotions thwarted, jobs eliminated, or careers stunted by the stroke of Secretary Hegseth’s pen.
Juneteenth in history
The importance of Juneteenth cannot be understated: While it has been described as a celebration of the end to slavery, it doesn't actually commemorate a particular political event. While the end of slavery is a big part of it, Juneteenth is at its core a commemoration of freedom, and the slaves who fought for their own freedom. But beyond that, I also think of it as a celebration of our country’s ability to make good decisions, become more just, and evolve toward a better nation.
The Emancipation Proclamation was signed in January 1863 and the Civil War ended in April 1865. The Reconstruction Amendments, including the right to vote and application of the doctrine of equal protection to the states, arose later, between 1865 and 1870. A case can be made that any of these dates might be a more appropriate holiday to celebrate the freedom of those enslaved. So what does Juneteenth actually celebrate?
Juneteenth celebrates the date — June 19th, 1865 — when Major General Gordon Granger ordered enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. It also commemorates the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation to a gathering of former slaves in that state: They were among the last of the enslaved to learn of their freedom. While there are many milestones one might note in recalling our nation’s reckoning with slavery and the bloody war, Juneteenth celebrates the day when the formerly enslaved received news of their freedom. This vital date remained a touchstone of Black Americans through the Great Migration and the Civil Rights movement. Even in the darkest days of Jim Crow, Juneteenth was a consistent presence in their lives, focused on freedom and hope.
Juneteenth also should remind us that it is one thing to pass an Emancipation Proclamation. It's quite another to deliver that news and to empower those emancipated to pursue their American dreams. The recent Supreme Court case that turns back over 60 years of legal precedent in allowing the gerrymandering away of majority-Black Congressional districts is a reminder that there remain forces at work against the promise of freedom. There remains work to be done.
What (and whom) we should celebrate
When we think of the people and stories that we should remember each Juneteenth, we should include the abolitionists who fought at great risk to their own position, wealth, and personal safety. Most of us are familiar with Harriet Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison, and Frederick Douglass. One lesser-known abolitionist is Cassius Marcellus Clay, for whom the great fighter was named.
Clay used inherited wealth to establish an abolitionist newspaper, named True American. He fought off a mob seeking to smash his printing presses. He also funded Berea College, the first college in the South to enroll Black students and women.
He was nearly killed in 1843 by a hired assasin, and later attacked by six pro-slavery brothers. In both instances, his aptitude with a Bowie knife saved him. He continued to serve his country, including persuading Russia to back the U.S. against the Confederacy. He died in 1903 at age 92. The actions of white Americans like Clay should also be recognized on this day.
Juneteenth represents to me the ability of a nation to marshal its resources toward noble goals, to right a historic wrong, and to recognize that not all Americans came from the same background, or even elected to be here at all. We should celebrate the event — the enabling of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas, that far-off bastion of the Confederacy. And we should remember people like Cassius Clay and those — Black and white — who fought for freedom and equal protection under the law.
Contrary to a rising movement that American history should only be the study of the country's greatness and its successes, its shortcomings also are a part of its history. And we cannot turn a blind eye to them. Rather than presenting a saccharine retelling, devoid of struggle, Juneteenth should be part of the curriculum in all schools. For without struggle and without the ability to see our history through the eyes of others, we miss out on the essential truths of America — that all men are created equal, that we share certain unalienable rights, and that we strive to form a more perfect union.
To me, Juneteenth is among the most American of holidays — a holiday to be celebrated by Black and non-Black Americans alike. We should study the history of the Civil War and the struggle for freedom and remind ourselves that, despite its flaws, America seems always to find its way forward. We should all remember Juneteenth, when a slave population celebrated, finally, becoming free Americans — joining our story and helping to write our history.
We are a perfectible people: After all, we're charged with forming a more perfect union — not the perfect union. Juneteenth reminds us that America isn't defined by the promises it made, but by its continual struggle to live up to them.
Have a great day,
Glenn
