What is Juneteenth?

What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday. 
 
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, in Virginia, but slavery had remained relatively unaffected in Texas—until U.S. General Gordon Granger stood on Texas soil and read General Orders No. 3: The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.
 
The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, had established that all enslaved people in Confederate States in rebellion against the Union shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.  But in reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t instantly free any enslaved people. The proclamation applied only to places under Confederate control and not to slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control. However, as Northern troops advanced into the Confederate South, many enslaved people fled behind Union lines.
 
In Texas, slavery had continued as the state experienced no large-scale fighting or significant presence of Union troops. Many enslavers from outside the Lone Star State had moved there, as they viewed it as a safe haven for slavery.
 
After the war ended in the spring of 1865, General Granger’s arrival in
Galveston that June signaled freedom for Texas’s 250,000 enslaved people.
Although emancipation didn’t happen overnight for everyone – in some cases, enslavers withheld the information until after harvest season – celebrations broke out among newly freed Black people, and Juneteenth was born. That December, slavery in America was formally abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment.
 
In 1866, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of "Jubilee Day" on June 19. In the ensuing decades, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, barbecues, prayer services and other activities, and as Black people migrated from Texas to other parts of the country the Juneteenth tradition spread. 
 
In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday; several others followed suit over the years. In June 2021, Congress passed a resolution establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday; President Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021. (www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth)
 
Friends, we are blessed with a brand new 3-day weekend. We are wise to learn more about the reasons why we have it as part of our celebration and relaxation. It is my prayer for us that we will thank God for the gift of our freedoms in the USA and the many lessons we have had to learn as our nation strives to become our best self. We are a nation in ongoing conversion at many levels – not the least of which is striving to ensure the rights and dignity of each person living on our land. Happy Juneteenth!
 
Sincerely, Fr. Chris, SS.CC.