Juneteenth

What Is It and Why Is It Important?What Is It and Why Is It Important?

Juneteenth is the holiday memorializing the end of slavery in America. Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas leading federal troops to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. General Order No. 3, proclaimed that enslaved people in Texas were officially freed.

Generally, history tells us that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in America. Reality shows us that real change is neither immediate nor absolute. Some enslavers, especially those in the State of Texas chose to ignore the mandate leaving the institution intact in the state. Due to the remoteness of the state and absence of Union troops, some enslavers from other Southern states also moved their enslaved people to Texas in hopes of retaining their property.

The word “Juneteenth” is an abbreviation for the actual date, June 19^th. A recognized federal holiday in the nation since 2021, with legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden passing with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. It is known by many names including Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day and Freedom Day, and has been celebrated since 1865. It has also been referred to as America’s Second Independence Day since the traditional Independence Day marking the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 from British rule did not free enslaved persons in the U.S.

History Repeats ItselfHistory Repeats Itself

As in other slave holding states, the transition from enslaved to free in Texas was marked with resistance and turmoil. Also, just as in other states, Jim Crow practices and policies were implemented to limit the political and economic power of the formerly enslaved. Violence against the formerly enslaved became common as voter suppression, attacks on individuals and entire Black communities became part of the strategy to maintain White supremacy. Despite these challenges, freed Black Texans fought to define their own freedom, establishing schools, churches, and businesses to build new lives.

Black Texas Leaders EmergeBlack Texas Leaders Emerge

Following emancipation, several Black leaders in Texas emerged, shaping politics, education, and civil rights. Some of the most notable figures include:

• George Ruby – A free born mulatto, he was a teacher, member of the Freedmen’s Bureau and publisher of the Galveston Standard, Ruby was a powerful politician during Reconstruction. Ruby was the only Black delegate from Texas at the Republican National Convention in 1868, later serving in the Texas Senate advocating for labor rights and education.
• Walter Moses Burton – Burton was born into slavery in North Carolina and moved to Texas by his enslaver who taught him to read and write. Burton bought land from his former enslaver, eventually becoming one of the wealthiest landowners in his Texas county of Fort Bend. Later, becoming the first Black sheriff in the U.S. and serving in the Texas Senate. He championed education and helped establish Prairie View A&M University.
• Matthew Gaines – Born enslaved in Louisiana, Gaines benefitted from the courage and kindness of a White boy of his same age who secretly taught him to read and write. After multiple escapes and capture he was sold multiple times and eventually removed to Fredericksburg, Virginia. One of those attempts included heading to Mexico. A minister and politician, Gaines was a vocal advocate for Black education and played a key role in Texas adopting the Morrill Land Grant Act, which led to the creation of Texas A&M University.
• Hattie Mae White – The first the first African American elected to public office in Texas in the 20th century. White led the effort to desegregate Houston’s schools despite unending opposition and personal threats.
• Barbara Jordan – Jordan was known for her advocacy for equality, powerful speeches and strong leadership. She represented many firsts for African Americans. She became the first Black woman elected to the Texas Senate in 1966, and the first Black state senator in Texas since 1883. In 1972, she became the first Black woman from the South elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Opal Lee – Known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, eighty-nine-year-old Lee campaigned by walking 2.5 miles in each city from Texas to Washington, D.C. symbolizing the 2.5 years it took after the Emancipation Proclamation for enslaved Texans to receive their freedom.  

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References

See AlsoSee Also

MyHeritage. Jim Crow.

MyHeritage. The Underground Railroad South to Freedom in Mexico.

https://aframnews.com/know-your-history-george-t-ruby/

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=126527

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/burton-walter-moses-1829-1913/

https://www.history.com/articles/barbara-c-jordan

https://hmaac.org/new-page-1

https://www.biography.com/political-figures/barbara-jordan

Pitre, Merline. Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas. Eakin Press, 1997.

Winegarten, Ruthe. Black Texas Women: 150 Years of Trial and Triumph (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.

Jordan, Barbara, and Shelby Hearon. Barbara Jordan: A Self-Portrait. Doubleday, 1979.

Untold Stories: The Strange Demise of Jim Crow in Houston, website designed by graduate students in the College of Education at the University of Houston to support the book No Color is My Kind by Thomas R. Cole, and the documentary, “The Strange Demise of Jim Crow”.

Jordan, Barbara. Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder. University of Texas Press, 2007.

Moneyhon, Carl H. George T. Ruby, Champion of Equal Rights in Reconstruction Texas. Texas Christian University Press, 2020.

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