Juneteenth (June 19), celebrated this Wednesday in the United States, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It is a date that offers an opportunity for African Americans to remember their history and create a lasting cultural legacy.
Many people are not familiar with this holiday because it was created recently, in 2021. But in fact, the date has been celebrated every year since June 19, 1865. It was on this day, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, that 2,000 Union soldiers led by General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to deliver General Order Number 3, announcing that “in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
Samuel Collins, historian and president of the Juneteenth Legacy Project, says that an important element often left out of American history is the number of Black soldiers who accompanied General Gordon Granger.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, the military formed the United States Colored Troops. More than 186,000 African Americans joined the U.S. armed forces, including about 93,542 soldiers who were formerly enslaved.
“Seventy-five percent of the soldiers who went to Texas were Black soldiers from the United States,” says Collins. “The Union soldiers who really won were these Black soldiers. It’s not in any history book that was given to me as a child or even in college; none of the history books mention that 75 percent, three out of four Union soldiers were Black men who stood tall with a gun and a badge to bring freedom to the enslaved people of Texas.”
Although historically, awareness of Juneteenth has not been universal for African Americans, it spans all socioeconomic and class lines and is rooted in a sense of pride in the contributions and historical sacrifices of this people.
The day has been celebrated by generations of families who gather for religious services, concerts, parades, picnics, and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation.
In 2021, a 5,000-square-foot mural titled “Absolute Equality” was completed in downtown Galveston, at the same site where Granger issued General Order Number 3.
Samuel Collins believes this mural will spark people’s interest in Juneteenth and allow them to learn about the history. “General Order Number 3 includes in the second sentence: ‘This involves absolute equality.’ Therefore, we are still marching for absolute equality.”