UNITED STATES—I know this is going to sound crazy, but before 2020 I had never heard of Juneteenth. It was not anything ever mentioned or talked about in any of my history or social studies courses. Imagine when I discover this day, that is so important to American history, and in particular to African Americans and slavery that seemed to be this secret, that if I did a bit of learning, I would have known about it.
For those who need a bit of a history lesson, Juneteenth was officially enacted into a federal holiday in 2021 by President Joe Biden and voted on by Congress. The federal holidays was the culmination of end of slavery in the United States. Yes, we had the U.S. Constitution implemented with the 13th Amendment in 1865 that ended slavery in the United States fully, but June 19, 1865, was the day when General Gordon Grander arrived in Galveston, Texas to alert slaves that they were officially freed as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation.
It is hard to fathom when the Emancipation Proclamation was officially signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, it took over 2 years for slaves in Texas to discover they were actually free. That is a hard pill to swallow, especially knowing the purpose of the Civil War was to ensure slavery stayed intact, especially in the Southern states. Our history is ugly and a lot of Americans would like to forget it as if it never happened.
I know people hate to hear it, but wealth for some in this country was a direct result of slavery because people were doing the work for free and the slave owners of plantations didn’t have to pay a lick as a result. Yes, it is a bloody stain on America’s history, and it will always be no matter how much people try to say to get over it, it is not going to happen.
It is a federal holiday that is celebrated each year now on June 19, where it truly is a celebration of the Black culture and the freedom of slaves. So, for some people it is about celebrating history. Yes, you can remove monuments and teachings, but the truth of the matter is history is history; it does not disappear and you cannot erase it.
Truth be told, people need to learn about Juneteenth and its connection to history and how it had a vital impact on slavery and its absolute end of it and the celebrations that manifested for the Black culture as a result of it soon after for more than 2 centuries, but it seemed to be on the hush hush or wasn’t widely publicized where I ever heard about it.
I’m in my 40s and having no idea the importance of this day to my culture, to my history is so upsetting to say the least. A total of 900 days, that is how long the slaves in Galveston, TX had to wait before learning of their freedom. Imagine that, when many others who had endured and survived the absolute horrors of slavery, had already learned about their freedom thanks to President Lincoln.
I haven’t truly endured the notion of Juneteenth because I unfortunately tend to have work my day job each day. However, for 2026 I’m taking a new approach; educating myself more about its history to learn what I never got the opportunity to discover in school. I want to open my eyes to things that maybe I overlooked, didn’t learn and want to learn. Juneteenth is here to stay America, so get on board with it.
Written By Jason Jones
