Juneteenth (June nineteenth) was a mystery to me until a few years ago. In some places it’s known as Liberation Day, Freedom Day, or Jubilee Day. It is a significant day in history, not only because of what happened on that day in 1863, but because it highlights an important truth about culture, history, and the ongoing fight for freedom. The march from where we are, to where we want to be, is a journey marked with significant strides and painful setbacks.
On that Monday, two days before summer began in Galveston, Texas, Union General Gordon Granger announced that all slaves in Texas were now free. The Emancipation Proclamation had been signed in Washington D.C. two and a half years earlier. But it wasn’t put into effect in Texas until Union Soldiers defeated the Confederate forces there. Someone had to fight for freedom.
Residents began marking the anniversary of that day by celebrating Juneteenth. It started as church celebrations but has grown and spread across the nation with food, art, and cultural events commemorating that day. Someday Juneteenth may become a national holiday. It should, because it will remind us that significant change doesn’t happen overnight – someone has to fight for it.
President Lincoln, the person who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, wasn’t the first U.S. President to fight for an end to slavery. President John Quincy Adams mentored Abraham Lincoln, and many scholars believe he instilled in Lincoln the passion to end slavery. John Quincy’s father, President John Adams, was an abolitionist. And contrary to modern day history, a thorough student of history will discover that Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were also opposed to slavery and fought against it.
Founding Fathers Aaron Burr, Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, John Jay, James Madison, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and many more fought the fight to end slavery. Did things change overnight? No. Did some of them own slaves themselves? Yes, but that’s another story for another time.
The Emancipation Proclamation was not perfect. It went into effect in January 1863 but only impacted slaves held by Confederate states that had not yet returned to the Union side. Progress was slow. On April 9, 1863 the Confederacy was defeated, and less than one-week later Abraham Lincoln was dead.
Even though the Confederacy was defeated, the Union forces still had to march all the way through rebel territory to declare freedom for slaves who lived in those states. In Galveston, TX freedom was declared on June 19. But it wasn’t until December 1865 that the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery in every U.S. state and territory. But the march had to continue.
I’ve read recent comments that “Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent civil disobedience accomplished nothing.” That’s a lie. Talk to black women that had to ride in the back of the bus. Talk to black men that couldn’t sit at the lunch counter. Talk to people who still remember not being able to drink at “whites only” water fountains, or use “whites only” restrooms, or any other public accommodation labeled “whites only”. Did MLK’s efforts change everything overnight? No. Did he, and those who marched with him, drastically change the landscape of America? Absolutely. Is there still work to be done? Believe it.
As recently as 1985, I saw with my own eyes how blacks were treated in rural Florida. In the early 90’s I saw how poor inner-city Detroit individuals (black and white) were ravaged by advertisers marketing cigarettes, alcohol, and the lottery to help ease the pain of their plight. There is still change that needs to happen. The march for freedom still needs to press on. But don’t be fooled, change won’t happen overnight because what really needs to change is the hearts and attitudes in every human heart.
Christians know this, but sometimes we forget the things we know. And, as Mark Twain said, sometimes the things we know “just ain’t so”.
Christ won victory over the powers of evil on the cross at Golgotha, and triumphed over them on Resurrection Sunday. But everyone knows, the battle rages on in the hearts of men and women to this day. The march must continue until we declare freedom in every corner of the world. The march must continue until light and love drive out darkness and hatred.
So today, as you celebrate Juneteenth, or as you just begin to learn about Juneteenth, remember how far we’ve come. Remember what’s been accomplished. Remember the fight must go on. The march must continue until, “all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'” (MLK, August 28, 1963)
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