A sister from South Carolina (of all places) took exception to a comment I made about Juneteenth in a social media blog last week.
I found the sister’s response to my comment ironic and disingenuous, particularly given that she’s from the first state to disaffiliate from the ‘union,’ sparking the Civil War and the loss of 600,000 lives.
I also took exception to the sister’s objection because her only source for her rebuttal was the propaganda she received from public (government) schools.
As such, I don’t fault the sister. She is a victim of propaganda and misinformation. And sadly, she is not alone.
In fact, our ignorance about Juneteenth as ‘Emancipation Day,’ along with the dirty political glasses we see the world through, has rendered us impotent (not to be confused with important) and culturally immature.
For clarification, during the podcast in question, I took issue with an introductory comment describing Juneteenth as a celebration of the end of African slavery in America.
It was not, I declared. And while June 19, 1865, is worthy of celebration as the day slaves in Texas were informed of their ‘freedom,’ there is a part of me that finds it ironic— insulting even— that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation only freed our African (we were not citizens of the U.S.) ancestors in ‘most’ southern states.
Lincoln’s northern political supporters were allowed to continue participating in the most inhumane slave system in human history.
I can only assume Lincoln knew that most Americans in 1863 were either racists or ambiguous about slavery.
In fact, many refused to serve in the army to fight for an end to slavery.
Riots abounded in the North about slavery (the ‘draft riots’ in New York being one of them, as illustrated in the Martin Scorsese movie, ‘Gangs of New York’).
As such, Lincoln’s proclamation was issued primarily to undermine the Confederacy’s use of slave labor and to conclude the war.
The proclamation was primarily issued to create chaos in the South, sparking slave revolts and escapes.
Many ‘former’ slaves confronted their oppressors before running for cover.
If there was any doubt about Lincoln’s true intention. He clarified it when he entertained a group of Black and white abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, for a meeting to solicit their support for a proposal to ‘ship’ all of the ‘coloreds’ to an unspecified location in South America.
‘Honest Abe’ posited that Africans would never be provided equality in America and, as Marcus Garvey was to suggest decades later, would be better off in a land of their own.
They don’t teach that ‘history’ in public (government) schools. Nor do they reveal that in a September 1863 speech, Lincoln proudly proclaimed himself a racist who believed Africans were subhuman and shouldn’t be allowed equality.
Sounds a lot like Donald Trump—another Republican—doesn’t it?
While I support and, in fact, love our ‘Black holiday,’ I get a pain in my stomach every time I hear the falsehood that it ended slavery mentioned in the media.
And this year, I should have bought stock in Maalox.
Why? Because I heard two local newscasters (White) describe Juneteenth in those terms during broadcasts announcing, promoting, Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration Sunday.
That ‘lie’ continued throughout Monday on all television and several radio stations.
It even passed the lips of Black journalists who should know better.
James Causey, my favorite Black journalist—period—even used that disingenuous misconception in a story he wrote last week about the White inclusion in the holiday.
Then again, just as television journalists read from a script they might not have written, James’ column is edited by folks who probably never walked among the festival participants.
I heard President Joe Biden refer to Juneteenth similarly when he signed the holiday bill, prompting me to theorize a political motive about this ‘gift’ to Black America (or voters).
Moreover, I don’t think it was a coincidence that Democrats pushed for the holiday in the aftermath of nationwide protests and riots following the public execution of George Floyd.
Could it be Juneteenth was our ‘pain pill;’ our placebo? Was it ‘political reparations’ to quell rising tensions?
Maybe Biden was generalizing. But since he is the sponsor of the national holiday and has gone on record as defining ‘Blackness,’ one would assume he would know better.
Then again, he probably didn’t know of the theory that the emancipation proclamation was actually an illegal, executive order, thus the rush by Lincoln to push for the 13th Amendment, which should be celebrated as a national ‘holy day,’ as it legally freed all of our ancestors.
One other legal theory suggests the emancipation proclamation was unlawful because the Civil War itself didn’t qualify as a ‘war’ against an established nation.
If you think it through, the Confederacy (Confederate States of America) was never a ‘foreign nation,’ as the ‘war between north and south’ was fought to keep the South part of the United States.
International law posits you can only take contraband from a foreign nation you defeat in war. The Confederacy was never recognized as such.
I also take exception with the so-called ‘Juneteenth Day flag,’ explaining it should have been created after conducting a national competition or discussion.
If it were left up to me, I would have used the ‘Black Liberation Flag’ (conceived by Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey). It represents everything we are about, including our link to the Motherland.
Politics abound over the Juneteenth Day celebration, as do racial concerns.
Is Juneteenth about a time in history, or is it a unifying celebration?
Some estimate there were more Whites at the festival this year than ever. I even saw a white couple marching to their car, parked north of our office on the 3600 block of King Drive.
In 30 years, I have never seen a white couple (young white women) walk past our office. Maybe I’ve finally seen some progress of note.
But that’s another story.
The few Whites who participated in the festivities were probably liberals who see the world through progressive glasses. The overwhelming majority of Whites neither recognize, much less accept, the concept of international harmony the festival evokes.
A sizable majority fear venturing into the Black community, much less being swallowed up in a sea of Blackness.
A Griot writer recently noted Juneteenth is an exclusive racial holiday.
On her national radio talk show, Karen Hunter, my favorite radio talk show host, questioned Monday whether Whites should ever be an essential part of Juneteenth.
She didn’t mention the situation in Greenville, South Carolina, where coordinators were forced to backtrack from efforts to ‘integrate’ Juneteenth by putting whites on festival advertising. But that fiasco enhanced her point.
Hunter also asked how we could accept Juneteenth as a national holiday when those who promote the national event are unwilling to discuss national reparations.
She has a point, particularly when noting how Juneteenth was immediately ‘exploited’ by corporate America when Biden signed the holiday legislation.
The uproar around the capitalistic exploitation by corporate America sparked a national outcry that has yet to abate.
Among my concerns with the institutionalization of Juneteenth is centered around the inherent politics.
Juneteenth is by far my favorite Milwaukee Black event, second only to the African World Festival, which ended with the demise of OIC.
African World Festival brought together our overlapping cultures—African and African American—and provided a weekend of activities.
I give Juneteenth coordinators credit for maintaining the festival for 52 years, but it speaks volumes that we are the only ethnicity without an ‘ethnic’ lake festival, given we are the largest ethnicity in the city,
And while it may be meaningless to many, I take issue with political manipulation that resulted in a more contained festival that ends before sundown.
As one of the oldest celebrations of Juneteenth in America, Milwaukee’s festival was initially spread out over a much longer stretch, starting at North Ave and running to Burleigh. There weren’t police on horseback looking over us.
But politics, specifically, White opposition to ‘our’ festival and fear that the knowledgeable and potentially angry Black masses could ‘explode,’ prompted changes reminiscent of President John Kennedy’s ‘guidelines’ for the March on Washington.
Kennedy, who was not the ‘White knight’ His-story portrayed him as. He agreed not to block the march only after telling organizers where they could assemble, the route taken to the site, and when to get out of Dodge— by sundown.
Years ago, I took an award-winning photo from atop a fire department ladder of the mass of Black humanity stretching into eternity along 3rd Street.
I shot the photo at about 5:30 p.m. This year, organizers were ‘instructed’ to start closing down at 3:30, meaning family members who worked the first shift were excluded from the celebration since most businesses remained open.
I celebrate Juneteenth because it represents Black unity, it is our accepted day, and the positives outweigh the negatives and questions about its origins.
Juneteenth has been our communal family reunion, a celebration like no other. A church gathering, an independence day barbecue, and a cultural event are all rolled into one.
I am overwhelmed with a sense of brotherhood, even if most of us don’t understand its origins or relate to our ancestors’ suffering. We can today embrace brothers and sisters on Martin Luther King Street, named after the martyr who tried to end a byproduct of slavery.
I celebrate even though the American propaganda machine, media, and political leaders on both sides of the political fence promote or hide the hypocrisy of a proclamation that freed ‘contraband.’
Speaking of lies and contraband, the lie about Juneteenth is strikingly similar to the exploitation of another landmark day: the falsehood that African slaves—Angolans– first arrived here in 1619.
An entire industry has been created based on the fairytale thatslavery was introduced to the ‘land of the free’ in 1619.
The Spanish brought African slaves to an area that would later become part of the state of South Carolina in 1526. Ironically, after betraying the trust of the local Native tribe, those Spanish colonialists were killed, and the slaves were released and created settlements in the area. Maybe you could consider that day as the original emancipation event.
But even that date is debated.
Historians had noted that Juan Garrido was ‘honored’ with being the first African slave to touch our shores when he was dragged along with Juan Ponce de Leon during his expedition in 1513.
Others point to the Spanish utilizing African slaves to carve out their St Augustine, Florida homestead in 1565.
After receiving a press release from the 1619 commission about a national commemoration of that date, I responded in an email by asking why they accepted ‘His- story’ over history.
The respondent expressed curiosity and frustration with my facts, noting 1619 was the ‘accepted’ date, and too much time and resources have been used to establish that date for a myriad of promotions.
I was told to promote the lie since it is already accepted by the masses and potential funders.
That press release never made it to print.
How can we, on the one hand, demand more relevant history in our classrooms but, on the other, accept lies as fact?
When I try to answer that rhetorical question, the biblical quote that posits ‘our people (actually Jews) suffer from a lack of knowledge’ comes to mind.
A better quote may be the one that proclaims only the ‘truth will set you free.’
In other words, living a lie will keep you in bondage, even if you don’t recognize it as such. And no executive order will provide the key to that lock.
Hotep.
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