- Home
- Editorial and Opinion
- CARMEN'S CORNER: Why Juneteenth
CARMEN'S CORNER: Why Juneteenth
- By Carmen Watkins
- Published 06/17/2009
- Editorial and Opinion
- Unrated
Carmen Watkins
Carmen Watkins is president and CEO of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston.
View all articles by Carmen Watkins
In my travels, particularly at this time of the year, I am often questioned about the significance of Juneteenth. Let’s face it, there are lots of folks, both Black and White, who don’t get it. Why would we so proudly celebrate the historical marker that freed us in Texas, much later than everyone else?
Are we proud to be late? Is there justice in knowing that once again we were duped, used and abandoned longer that our other counterparts? Or do we just need another excuse to have a festival?
For some people, the continued celebration only highlights all that is wrong with African-Americans. Though the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862, and was effective on January 1, it was not until June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves that freedom became a reality for Texas slaves. It is the June 19, 1865 date, that Juneteenth commemorates.
Last week, in Washington at the Solemn Memorial, a lone gunman walked into the Holocaust Museum and released fire on a security guard. The victim, an African- American male. The crime has been categorized as a “hate crime” by a person that was well known in the dangerous circle of hate.
It is said that the suspect is a member of Mensa, “the high-IQ society” and a long time voice of White supremacy. James von Brunn, 88, of Annapolis has a long history of hate. He was convicted in D.C. Superior Court for a 1981 attempted attack on a government building.
He was in his own words, “convicted by a Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys and sentenced to prison for 11 years by a Jew judge. A Jew/Negro/White Court of Appeals denied my appeal.”
And then there is the 2008 Paris, Texas case of a young Black man that was beaten and dragged to death from the back of a truck (see front page story). The two White, 28 year-olds in the case were acquitted of the crime. According to FBI data for 2007, there were 7,624 hate crimes in the U.S, more than half of those crimes were committed against someone because of their race or religion.
And the number of hate groups, often fueled by cyberspace is increasing everyday.
So Why Juneteenth?
June 19, 1865 may have freed slaves from confederate slave owners, but it did not abolish the hate, bias and prejudice that created slavery. At best it created, for some an unnatural coexistence that continued to fuel hate for many generations. And they don’t have an official day of celebration or remembrance, they have the ability to just walk in and start shooting.
Keep Juneteenth Alive!
Carmen
Are we proud to be late? Is there justice in knowing that once again we were duped, used and abandoned longer that our other counterparts? Or do we just need another excuse to have a festival?
For some people, the continued celebration only highlights all that is wrong with African-Americans. Though the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862, and was effective on January 1, it was not until June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves that freedom became a reality for Texas slaves. It is the June 19, 1865 date, that Juneteenth commemorates.
Last week, in Washington at the Solemn Memorial, a lone gunman walked into the Holocaust Museum and released fire on a security guard. The victim, an African- American male. The crime has been categorized as a “hate crime” by a person that was well known in the dangerous circle of hate.
It is said that the suspect is a member of Mensa, “the high-IQ society” and a long time voice of White supremacy. James von Brunn, 88, of Annapolis has a long history of hate. He was convicted in D.C. Superior Court for a 1981 attempted attack on a government building.
He was in his own words, “convicted by a Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys and sentenced to prison for 11 years by a Jew judge. A Jew/Negro/White Court of Appeals denied my appeal.”
And then there is the 2008 Paris, Texas case of a young Black man that was beaten and dragged to death from the back of a truck (see front page story). The two White, 28 year-olds in the case were acquitted of the crime. According to FBI data for 2007, there were 7,624 hate crimes in the U.S, more than half of those crimes were committed against someone because of their race or religion.
And the number of hate groups, often fueled by cyberspace is increasing everyday.
So Why Juneteenth?
June 19, 1865 may have freed slaves from confederate slave owners, but it did not abolish the hate, bias and prejudice that created slavery. At best it created, for some an unnatural coexistence that continued to fuel hate for many generations. And they don’t have an official day of celebration or remembrance, they have the ability to just walk in and start shooting.
Keep Juneteenth Alive!
Carmen