What Is Juneteenth? | Facing South

Skip to main content Defend democracy in the South. Donate now The online magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies Open Search

Main navigation

Demographics Justice Economy Environment Politics Southern Exposure Open Search Search

• Justice
• Politics

What is Juneteenth?

By Chris Kromm / June 19, 2009

• Share on Twitter
• Submit to Reddit
• Share on Facebook
• More
• Linkedin
• Share on Google+
• Share via Email

As we celebrate Juneteenth today, here's a short piece explaining the holiday that we ran on Facing South last year. Enjoy!Today is Juneteenth,a holiday marking the day that, in 1865, slaves in Texas were finallytold they were free -- two months and 10 days after Robert E. Leesurrendered to Ullyses S. Grant at Appomattox.The slave mastershad never bothered to tell them that slavery was officially over in1863; it took Union General Gordon Granger riding into Galveston with2,000 federal troops to share the news.As Texas native Erin Evans writes in The Root today,Juneteenth has ebbed and flowed with time. Before the 1960s, many inTexas viewed the history with shame. But as black pride grew, manyblack Southerners embraced the holiday as a celebration of freedom.The scene she describes in Texas 27 years ago is one that can still be found in many pockets of the South today:

Mymother shared with me a story, that happened just a few years before Iwas born. The saying was, "Come hell or high water, there will alwaysbe Juneteenth at Comanche Crossing." That was the Booker T. WashingtonState Park, which was located in Mexia, Texas, my late father'shometown, 50 miles east of Waco. And it was where one of the biggestJuneteenth celebrations took place every year.In 1981, my momand dad had driven down a mile-long road off the highway and across abridge leading into Comanche Crossing. It was so packed that my parentsbarely made it across the bridge before they met bumper-to-bumpertraffic, hundreds of cars in every direction. It was so overcrowdedthat people started leaving their cars to enjoy the festivities.

Happy Juneteenth!

Tags

Tags
• Race and Civil Rights
• Southern Politics

Chris Kromm

@chriskromm

Chris Kromm is executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies and publisher of the Institute's online magazine, Facing South.

Email Chris

Knowledge matters.

From exposing abuses of power and holding powerful interests accountable to elevating the voices of everyday people working for change, Facing South has become a go-to source for investigative reporting and in-depth analysis of Southern issues and trends.

Support Facing South with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate

We are building a better South.

The Institute for Southern Studies is committed to being an essential resource for voices of change in the South. Please join us and help bring lasting social and economic change to the region.

Email

Donate