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On June 19, 1865, that war finally having been won in the North's favor, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, took command of 2,000 federal troops in Texas, the last place in the former Confederate States of America where slavery still was practiced, and informed the people in that state that the practice was now over:
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.
Idleness? Jeez, stereotypes start early, don't they? If they're as lazy as all that, what was the point in making them slaves in the first place? However, let's end this on an audaciously hopeful note with a quote by a man who was anything but idle:
Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory or an acceptance of the way things are. It’s a celebration of progress. It’s an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history, change is possible—and there is still so much work to do.
--Barack Obama
Obama was a statesman. How did it all go so wrong with #45.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I guess it was a backlash against statesmanship.
Delete... and there is still so much work to do.
ReplyDeleteTwo steps forward, one step back. Social progress, Mitchell.
DeleteHi, Kirk!
ReplyDeleteI'm returning with a new post this Saturday, but wanted to drop in and say hi a few days early.
Slow, steady progress is better than none at all, and infinitely better than a rollback to the past. Seems Civil War #1 is still being fought, with Chapter 2 about to begin. Thank goodness we have a leader in today's America who eclipses the achievements of Abe Lincoln. Yes, I'm taking about Donald Trump aka "The Great Emancipator," who recently held a roundtable at a black church in Detroit and pledged to create thousands of new jobs for members of the black community working as maids and Pullman Porters.
I invite you to swing by Shady's Place this weekend if time permits, good buddy Kirk.
A black church with a mostly white audience, Shady.
DeleteI promise you I'll swing by your place.
Love that Obama quotation. It strikes exactly the right note.
ReplyDeleteGood writer, good president, Debra.
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