Slaves not freed on Juneteenth

The slaves that Juneteenth did not free lived in the friendly northern states. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was written for the slaves only in the rebellious southern states. And as the Civil War started to go south (literally) for the confederacy, southern slaveholders and merchants would shepherd their human property deeper into the south, so it's should come as no surprise that Texas held the largest slave population at the end of the war between the states. 

After taking over as the governor and assuming jurisdiction over the state of Texas General Gordon Grainger made the announcement (General Order #3) that began the Juneteenth celebration. It would be months later, and after the passage of the 13th amendment, before slavery was abolished throughout the U.S. portion of America, finally freeing slaves in the overlooked friendly northern states. 

So perhaps the Thirteenth Amendment is what should be celebrated when it comes to discussing freedom for all the slaves. If it were up to me I would go back even farther into the past for a freedom day celebration when a tattered and damaged sailing ship eased alongside the dock in New Orleans carrying the last surviving white farmers, tradesmen, doctors, judges, lawyers, and their families to survive the Haitian slave revolt.

The news the survivors landed with told of the slaves arming themselves and wiping out entire families, before destroying hundreds of white-owned businesses forcing the evacuations of all the pro-slavery whites in Haiti. The news was indeed unsettling to hear about in the years leading up to the Civil War in the U.S. For the longest time leading up to and into the unraveling of the bond between the states, white slaveholders in this country lived in fear of what might happen if black people were allowed to be armed, even to fight in a war to preserve the union of states. Which was no doubt on Lincoln's mind as he interacted with Fredrick Douglass's suggestions on the campaign trail.

Due to the persistence of Fredrick Douglass in the few meetings Douglass had with Abraham Lincoln, black soldiers were armed and allowed to fight for their own freedom, a fact overlooked by many of the Juneteenth celebrations I have attended over the years; making it seem more like freedom was simply given to black people rather than acknowledging the sacrifice made by both the free black men, and slaves, fighting not only to help preserve the union of states but for their freedom as well. If Juneteenth becomes a notional holiday then it will represent all of the above to me, maybe then the oldest African American celebration in the U.S. will make it into school history books and classes.

It's important to remember too that slaves had begun emancipating themselves long before the emancipation proclamation was ever announced, and that while slave revolts, in the U.S., were usually quickly put down slave insurrections still took place. So while June 19th celebrates the end of slavery in the south, I suppose the Juneteenth celebration can still be looked at as the beginning of slavery's actual disappearing in the U.S., an event that would eventually lead to the passage of the 13th Amendment.

Search for Equality

The road toward equality for black people in America has extended between the end of slavery and the beginning of Juneteenth, all the way up to where black people in America stand today. The road toward equality has been long, winding, and loaded with potholes. More than once my thoughts have toyed with the idea of what if---it was possible to reach back in time and bring someone from the days of slavery in America, back here to present-day America? While I imagine they would be amazed to see the tons of technical advancements (like indoor plumbing) and hopefully pleased to see how far some of us African American people have advanced on the economic scale. I suspect that my visitor from the past would also be just as amazed to see that in many places African American people are still as un-accepted by some whites today as they were in 1865.

They would learn that while many of the abolitionists who wanted to see black people in America freed from slavery, still did not necessarily want to see those same freed African Americans as their neighbors, and would eventually join with southern lawmakers returning to Washington after the Civil War, and the status quo, to craft new laws that were said to be separate but equal, for African Americans. 

Slavery lasted so long because it was accepted and justified by the status quo. Slavery was eventually ended when enough people willing to go against the status quo, did so. Today the mistreatment of black people by the police is more-or-less accepted by the status quo, how do I know? Because every time a black person is killed by a community protector some change is talked about and then instituted, but the problem in this regard is that the more things change the more things stay the same, especially where black lives are concerned. 

Until enough people say enough-is-enough and rise up to put an end to the mistreatment of their fellow citizens, which for the most part seems to be what is happening today. All over the world in Africa, England, the Pacific Island even here where I live people marched across the Golden Gate Bridge this week to say enough-is-enough.

The continued demonstrations inspired by the death of George Floyd and so many other black Americans still continue and are suppose to generate another march on Washington DC the unrest will most probably be still happening on June 19, 2020, perhaps some meaningful change in the way police handle matters concerning black lives will happen this time.

May this current slave uprising, created by George Floyd's murder, not be put down so easily, so that there might finally be equal protection under the law for black people when it comes to those who police our community, and so that the words our community police display so boldly on their police vehicles: "To Protect and Serve" finally apply to black lives.