Blog Post: Recognizing and Honoring Juneteenth, A Celebration of the End of Slavery in the United States of America

I have had the honor of leading more than a dozen student and adult trips to Germany where participants have explored the history of the Holocaust. After these trips, one of the common two-fold responses is a surprise at how directly Germany has confronted its racist past and a recognition that America has not done nearly as much to confront its own history of slavery. The cities of Germany are dotted with Holocaust memorials, ranging from the small stolperstein or stumbling blocks which are embedded in many streets, to historical markers that highlight the location of key events, and major memorials and museums that have changed the shape of cities. Where, my students wonder, are equivalent markers and sites about slavery in America?

There are some, to be sure, including on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., but even as we wait for other physical memorials, HMTC joins millions of Americans today in celebrating the holiday of Juneteenth and remembering the end of slavery.

The 19th of June is a somewhat arbitrary date to choose to celebrate the end of slavery, but no more so than holding President’s Day on the third Monday in February, or Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Yes, on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas and proclaimed that enslaved African Americans in one of the most distant reaches of the nation were free. That freedom, however, was based on the Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, which had gone into effect on January 1, 1863 – two other equally valid dates that could be chosen to celebrate the end of slavery.

Of course, as Lincoln himself knew, the Emancipation Proclamation was a highly problematic way to abolish slavery, as it only effected slaves in states that were in rebellion, and it was in those states that the Union had no way to enforce the proclamation. It would take the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to formally end slavery throughout the United States, which was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, approved by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865, ratified by the needed three-fourths of the states on December 6, 1865, and formally certified by Secretary of State Seward on December 18, 1865 – four more dates for potential celebration.

There are, of course, many other appropriate dates, demonstrating that freedom in America did not come at any single moment, but instead washed over the nation like a wave. We also know, however, that like water washing up on a beach, that wave of abolition receded, upending slavery, but hardly changing the conditions of life for African Americans in many parts of the country. Even as slavery was abolished, racism and inequality remained….and remain still. 

HMTC’s mission is to teach not only about the dangers of antisemitism, but about the dangers of racism, bullying and all manifestations of intolerance; and to promote resistance to prejudice and advocate respect for every human being.

We join in the celebration of Juneteenth today, and look forward to marking the end of slavery at many of the other relevant dates throughout the year. The history of slavery in the United States, after all, is not something that needs to be connected to any single day, but is a topic that deserves constant attention and discussion.

By Dr. Thorin Tritter