Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun
To many African Americans in 2013, June 19, 1865 seems like forever ago. Majority of the African American community can’t trace their lineage back to their ancestor that was told by a master or overseer that they were free. There are many questions that run through my mind when the holiday of Juneteenth comes around year after year about my heritage and history. Thoughts swirl around my mind such as what does my generation think about Juneteenth, do they know about Juneteenth and what are their emotional ties that surround the holiday with the past and future, those thoughts always loom, waiting to be answered. There are many more questions that go along with those but I always seem to question myself on the very last one. What about my future and the past history of my people, my culture, my heritage? What does that mean to me and to us all?
Juneteenth 2013 is a celebration of 148 years of freedom for Texans. I understand the Emancipation Proclamation was signed 150 years ago but for all of us Texans like me, those slaves didn’t hear they were emancipated from bondage until two years later on June 19, 1865.
As a native Texan born in La Marque, Texas, just about ten minutes north of Galveston Island, the birthplace of Juneteenth, I feel so close to that history. If I was alive 160 years ago I would be one of those slaves waiting, still picking tobacco, or cotton, maybe inside the big house preparing the food for master and his family. How could I not feel tied to my history?
As a child my parents made it a point to make my sister and I aware of our role as African Americans in America. My father would take us to a place in Texas City on the east end where they still had “Coloreds Only” and “Whites Only” painted on the outside walls of a building in the 90’s. Although the practices weren’t in use at the time it was a living history lesson. By taking us there to see that it was his way of letting us know as young girls that life as an African American was not going to be so simple.
As we grew up the black history lessons became more and more intense and the sense of pride to be African American grew as well but my sense of awareness was keen that things aren’t always what they appear to be. I couldn’t forget that people were enslaved because they had the same color skin as me and I took that very seriously.
Juneteenth is a one day party for some but for me it is life as we know it. For me it symbolizes the beginning of our future as Americans in a way, in the sense that if we weren’t chattel anymore then we were people living in America just like everyone else. Yes, I know that seems like a stretch but for a young girl my mind could only piece it together that far. Remember I was growing up in post civil rights era and its taboo to talk about race relations of the past.
So once we recognize that Juneteenth is a day of jubilation, slavery did happen, emancipation was a long over due but bestowed upon us (and yes us because we reap the benefits of that emancipation as descendants) what do we think of it 148 years later?
I find myself surrounded by peers who never think of their lineage so Juneteenth is far from their minds. When I went to college I met people who had never even heard of the Negro National Anthem nevertheless heard of a Juneteenth. It boggled my mind to even imagine what kind of fantasy world they were living in. Did they realize they were African American or did they think they had a real deep tan? I wanted to stand on the biggest soap box I could find to let them know they were missing out on the substance that made them who they are.
148 years ago there was another Myra somewhere in Galveston County, probably in the same location where I presently live toiling and missing family that may be somewhere else in the South. I hear people now complain about family about their husbands and wives and how much money they don’t make but 148 years ago those complaints would be completely asinine. Marriage would be rare and a gift from the master and money for work was a concept majority of the slaves never could comprehend.
The things we take for granted were built on the day of Juneteenth. I say that because the slaves weren’t free until all the slaves knew they were free. We take for granted that we can get up out of our bed at noon, take a long hot bath, eat a hearty meal of choice, put on whatever we choose from clothes we chose to purchase with money we earned or was given, we can get in a car and drive to do whatever we please amongst whomever we please. This came only after June 19, 1865. This came the day General Gordon Granger fulfilled his orders to tell those slaves in Galveston, Texas they were free.
The jubilation, the happiness, joy and wonder of what is next should be the celebration we have year after year. The stories of overcoming hardships, holding on, pressing on and look at us now should be celebration year after year. The remembrance of our ancestors should be celebration year after year. The progression of the African American race should be a celebration year after year. The future we have as an African Americans should be a celebration year after year. 148 years of freedom to just be is all the reason to celebrate.
We must never forget our heritage, regardless if we can’t research our family back past five generations or if life seems swell now. That is a disrespectful gesture to all who have fought, died and rallied for African Americans to be seen as people and not as property. We must teach our children to be prideful in their heritage and history and teach them who they are and where they come from. But we must not become detached from the simple truth that we have only been free a 150 years in America and 148 in Texas. We must not forget someone else had the power to tell us we were free and kept us as their property for over 200 years.
If we remember our history there is no way we can forget to celebrate our heritage and to recognize Juneteenth for more that just a parade, pageant, watermelon and red soda. It is a day of remembrance and jubilation because of all of those factors. So happy Juneteenth, happy Freedom Day and happy future to all African Americans all over the country because on June 19, 1865 we all became free.