Juneteenth 2006

June 19, 2006, or Juneteenth, marks the 141st anniversary of the final eradication of slavery in the United States. An important moment in U.S. history made all the more significant because it came two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863.\nOn June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and declared that "all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves..." The announcement sparked celebrations across the state which have only grown over the years. The day became an official state holiday in Texas and is now celebrated in communities across the country.\nOf course, we all know that 100 years later, black Americans were still fighting for "absolute equality of rights." And today we may have formal equality, but racism and the social and political ramifications of the past still linger in the form of uneven wealth distribution, disparities in education, job discrimination and other spheres of public life. Many of us like to believe that a simple proclamation of equality -- be it in 1865 or 1965 -- was a magical incantation that erased all injustice. But waving a magic wand and saying "Poof! You're now equal!" does not erase the ill effects of history.\nBut, today, my point is not to continue an important history lesson, nor to detail the continued presence of racial inequality. Instead, I want to challenge a predominant attitude.\nI told a friend that my next column conveniently fell on June 19, and that I simply couldn't miss the opportunity to talk about Juneteenth. His response? "Juneteenth ... what's that? Isn't that a black-people holiday?"\nI held back a somewhat angry response to explain that the day commemorates an important day in the history of the United States. It involves black history and marks a key moment in the slow movement toward racial equality, but that is no reason why it shouldn't be an important day for everyone to remember.\nUnfortunately, I realize that probably very few white people outside of Texas (and likely not a majority of white folks in Texas) know anything about Juneteenth. Our oh-so-unbiased history textbooks teach us that the Emancipation Proclamation worked its magic in 1863 and with Lincoln's heroic edict, slavery was over. The inconvenient facts about the next few years don't mesh with the grandiose story of American equality, liberty and justice. Funny how so many ugly facts tend to "disappear" as though they never happened.\nJust because Juneteenth rarely receives honorable mention in the textbooks, that is no reason why it shouldn't be a day we all commemorate. Injustice and oppression are part of everyone's history and influence everyone's present. We have a collective responsibility to remember that history, and to keep working to undo the remaining legacy of that past. Don't shrug it off as someone else's history or someone else's problem.