I live just down the road from Galveston, Texas, a seaside town with a storied history. It’s the port where my maternal grandparents first stepped onto the soil of the United States. It is a place that was at one time one of the most prosperous cities in the country until a killer hurricane destroyed dreams and killed thousands of people. It is also the site where Juneteenth was first celebrated by former slaves in 1866. 

The Civil war officially ended on April 9, 1865 but fighting continued sporadically in a number of places, most notably in Texas where diehards took their time in laying down arms and announcing to the slaves that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation on June 1, 1863. It was not until June 19, 1865 that General Gordon landed in Galveston and announced that the war was over and the slaves were freed. One year later on June 19, 1866 Black Texans began a tradition of celebrating their freedom and dubbed the day “Juneteenth” which was a combination of June and nineteenth. 

I have grown up hearing about Juneteenth and the yearly festivities surrounding that date. Galveston and nearby Houston have always featured special events and family celebrations on the nineteenth day of June. Some called it other names like Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, or Emancipation Day. Festivities have included picnics, rodeos, parades, street parties and even voter registration efforts. It is also a day of education and a rendering of the history of Black Americans from the days of slavery to the present. 

The summer menu for Juneteenth parties include strawberry cake, barbecue, watermelon and other red foods to symbolize the strength and courage of the former slaves and those who worked for the freedoms of Black Americans across the nation. The tradition even includs a red and blue Juneteenth flag with a single white star in the center. 

On June 21, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress to officially designate June 19, Juneteenth Day, as a national holiday. Since then more and more Americans have learned the story of the lengthy amount of time that it took for all slaves to know that they were free. On that date in 1865, slavery ended even for those who had not yet been told of their liberation. 

This year as in every year the citizens of Galveston planned many special events for Juneteenth including the presentation of a special symphony performance that included a choir of Black singers from the area. All across the country Black Americans rejoiced and honored the generations of their ancestors who were enslaved for two hundred forty six years. They also remembered those who were freed but still suffering under Jim Crow laws that kept them separated from white society for another one hundred years. Nonetheless many Americans have little or no idea why we should celebrate such a day. Even our current president seems inclined to suggest that it is a waste of time to take off from work for something that seems silly to him.

Today there are efforts to erase the history of Blacks in the United States and to insist that there is no longer a need to speak of the continuing acts of racism that they endure. Our president has insisted that DEI programs be eliminated and has even insinuated on the day of Juneteenth that there are too many national holidays. He boasted that people should go to work, not take advantage by staying at home on days like Martin Luther King Day. He has also registered his discomfort with Black History Month along with other celebrations of minorities. 

Sadly we still have people who make racist jokes about Black people eating watermelon and sipping on red soda water without bothering to understand that these are symbolic foods because the color red stands for the courage of Black Americans whose freedoms were nonexistent or cruelly curtailed for over three hundred fifty years. Juneteenth itself reminds us of the reluctance of slave owners to free and then respect the people who had toiled for generations in the economic building of our nation.

I would like to see all Americans joining in with the lovely celebrations of Juneteenth in future years. We all need to better understand why this holiday is so incredibly important. We owe understanding and gratitude to our fellow Black citizens. It is fitting and wonderful that we can now all share the joy and remembrance of Juneteenth with an official holiday for all.

This year former President Joe Biden went to Galveston to celebrate Juneteenth with the people there. I would like to think that all of our presidents, past, present and in the future will honor all Black Americans forevermore. Juneteenth is incredibly significant and beautiful. Taking time to understand its importance and its history should be a part of all historical curricula for our children. Facing the reality of racism makes us better. Ignoring or hiding what happened to people whose history reaches back longer that most American citizens only grows irrational hate. Juneteenth just may be the most important holiday of them all.