Tomorrow is the federal holiday honoring Juneteenth, the celebration of the announcement in Texas on June 19th, 1865, that enslaved Americans were free. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant of the U.S. Army, but it was not until June 2 that General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered the Trans-Mississippi Department, the last major army of the Confederacy, to the United States, in Galveston, Texas. Smith then fled to Mexico.
Yes, we as free, responsible citizens must actively work to remember history accurately, and can only do so with the help of responsible intellectual leaders like Dr. Heather--thank you.
Thanks Professor for this important reminder that change happens slowly and with much effort. To turn the course of history a consistent and considerable effort of changing the laws as well as the hearts and minds of the citizens is essential.
"How we remember our history" definitely matters, because it's been my discovery over 50 years of effort in gathering, analyzing and describing events in American history, that a good 80% of what passes for "official history" is more properly filed under "mythology."
The Minneapolis PD can take a big step in the right direction by getting rid of the Trump-loving leadership of their "Patrolmen's Benevolent Association," the cop union. Particularly that retrograde pig who's the president of the PBA, the guy who came out defending the murder of Floyd as "deserved."
It never hurts to review the difficulty slaveholding states had relinquishing the free labor to which their holders felt entitled, and it should sadden us all that so much of our society clings to that power differential. But I must admit that I was shocked by the documented brutality of Minneapollis police and the struggle to retain it. And just today in the land of Lincoln there was another mass shooting at a Juneteenth celebration. Somehow, some way, we must find the courage to make this nation safe from racial hatred and reject those who profit from it. I wish I knew how we could cut off the energy that fuels it.
I grew up in the Minneapolis (Mpls) area in the 1950's - 1970's as a middle-class white girl. I moved from the (all white) city to the (kind of - it's complicated) suburbs when I was 12 and lived between an upper-middle-class white suburb (Golden Valley) and one of the "black" neighborhoods - this one in north Minneapolis. Because of my father's job, I was well acquainted with many Mpls policemen. Most, if not all of them (in my experience) were decidedly racist. I think many of my family and lifetime friends will reject and/or deny the DOJ report about the Mpls police department as being accurate but I was not surprised to hear about it. I hope the report results in real, positive change and I also hope the same type of study is done in more cities nationwide and that it results in more dialogue and education aimed at uniting our divided nation. I cannot understand all of the hate in our country.
Opal Lee continues to be an inspiring figure in our local communities here in Ft Worth. Hearing her speak on the Tarrant County courthouse steps just after President Biden made Juneteenth a national holiday was witnessing history in the making! Thank you for this information. I hope how we remember our history can continue to be truthful!
The transparent efforts in former Confederate states and several others to make voting more difficult for "urban" populations, which is to say majority-minority cities, requires us to respond head-on with ways to defend the 13th and 14th Amendments. So sad that they are still so controversial that the conservative Supreme Court majority would like to abandon them or argue away their protection of the civil rights of all people.
What a shame-filled legacy exists in the US for persons of color, First Nations people of North America, Asians and women. Land of the free rings a smidge hollow for me.
Imagine if Allied forces had such a thing to Holocaust survivors upon their release from Concentration Camps. I guess no one gave any consideration, during the war, on how to assimilate the millions of freed slaves? This sounds a few cards short of a 'deck of citizenship'.
Granger's Gen Order #3: “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.”
The history of the event and the efforts to wipe it out are a constant reminder of the state of politics today. Our vote matters, I realize, but our participation and contribution to like minded candidates and causes are what matter now. Vote. Donate. Be mindful.
If the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment was to grant all privileges of citizenship to everyone born or naturalised in the United States of America, why was it not assumed that it would grant voting rights to American-born women?
Coretta Scott King famously has said that every generation has to ‘refight’ this ‘justice war’….and God knows we are in the throes of one hell of a fight…that is not just about those Black codes but about our democracy itself….and we can ill afford to lose THIS fight….
No one, absolutely no one should NOT see to it that there is a very very clear understanding of the Justice Departments 37 Felony indictments as they concern our national security…the issues of bribing a porn star to be silent relative to your relationship with her and it’s impact on a presidential election, and that clarity also needs to apply to the Eugene Carroll cases and I mean the initial defamation case AND the new one caused by the Orange One, 2 days after the initial verdict and that clarity is also soon to needed in Fulton County, Georgia, and back in DC with the January 6 debacle and in the Southern district of New York with additional Orange person horrors…and God knows, perhaps elsewhere too!
Yes. How we remember history matters. But we have to learn it first. I taught in all Black middle school from 1967-1978. How can it be that I never even heard of Juneteenth until decades later?
Now let’s talk about actually teaching black history in classrooms. Let’s talk about environmental Justice and real socialized healthcare to address the massive gaps between African Americans and white folk. Let’s talk about reparations.
Heather, thanks for this exceptional history lesson. I must admit, I have learned a lot from this writing tonight.
These is a question though.
With the current laws in affect in states like Florida, where Governor DeSantis and his minions in his Republican state legislature. How will the people of the state be able to celebrate this holiday, or the educators be able to mention, or discuss it, in their classrooms for fear of being jailed?
We all do remember the ridiculous laws that they passed where things like this can’t be discussed . After all, it is about slavery, and the Civil War. That’s two things that can’t be discussed in Florida schools!
"How we remember our history matters."
Yes, we as free, responsible citizens must actively work to remember history accurately, and can only do so with the help of responsible intellectual leaders like Dr. Heather--thank you.
Thanks Professor for this important reminder that change happens slowly and with much effort. To turn the course of history a consistent and considerable effort of changing the laws as well as the hearts and minds of the citizens is essential.
"How we remember our history" definitely matters, because it's been my discovery over 50 years of effort in gathering, analyzing and describing events in American history, that a good 80% of what passes for "official history" is more properly filed under "mythology."
The Minneapolis PD can take a big step in the right direction by getting rid of the Trump-loving leadership of their "Patrolmen's Benevolent Association," the cop union. Particularly that retrograde pig who's the president of the PBA, the guy who came out defending the murder of Floyd as "deserved."
It never hurts to review the difficulty slaveholding states had relinquishing the free labor to which their holders felt entitled, and it should sadden us all that so much of our society clings to that power differential. But I must admit that I was shocked by the documented brutality of Minneapollis police and the struggle to retain it. And just today in the land of Lincoln there was another mass shooting at a Juneteenth celebration. Somehow, some way, we must find the courage to make this nation safe from racial hatred and reject those who profit from it. I wish I knew how we could cut off the energy that fuels it.
I grew up in the Minneapolis (Mpls) area in the 1950's - 1970's as a middle-class white girl. I moved from the (all white) city to the (kind of - it's complicated) suburbs when I was 12 and lived between an upper-middle-class white suburb (Golden Valley) and one of the "black" neighborhoods - this one in north Minneapolis. Because of my father's job, I was well acquainted with many Mpls policemen. Most, if not all of them (in my experience) were decidedly racist. I think many of my family and lifetime friends will reject and/or deny the DOJ report about the Mpls police department as being accurate but I was not surprised to hear about it. I hope the report results in real, positive change and I also hope the same type of study is done in more cities nationwide and that it results in more dialogue and education aimed at uniting our divided nation. I cannot understand all of the hate in our country.
Opal Lee continues to be an inspiring figure in our local communities here in Ft Worth. Hearing her speak on the Tarrant County courthouse steps just after President Biden made Juneteenth a national holiday was witnessing history in the making! Thank you for this information. I hope how we remember our history can continue to be truthful!
The transparent efforts in former Confederate states and several others to make voting more difficult for "urban" populations, which is to say majority-minority cities, requires us to respond head-on with ways to defend the 13th and 14th Amendments. So sad that they are still so controversial that the conservative Supreme Court majority would like to abandon them or argue away their protection of the civil rights of all people.
What a shame-filled legacy exists in the US for persons of color, First Nations people of North America, Asians and women. Land of the free rings a smidge hollow for me.
Imagine if Allied forces had such a thing to Holocaust survivors upon their release from Concentration Camps. I guess no one gave any consideration, during the war, on how to assimilate the millions of freed slaves? This sounds a few cards short of a 'deck of citizenship'.
Granger's Gen Order #3: “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.”
The history of the event and the efforts to wipe it out are a constant reminder of the state of politics today. Our vote matters, I realize, but our participation and contribution to like minded candidates and causes are what matter now. Vote. Donate. Be mindful.
If the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment was to grant all privileges of citizenship to everyone born or naturalised in the United States of America, why was it not assumed that it would grant voting rights to American-born women?
Coretta Scott King famously has said that every generation has to ‘refight’ this ‘justice war’….and God knows we are in the throes of one hell of a fight…that is not just about those Black codes but about our democracy itself….and we can ill afford to lose THIS fight….
No one, absolutely no one should NOT see to it that there is a very very clear understanding of the Justice Departments 37 Felony indictments as they concern our national security…the issues of bribing a porn star to be silent relative to your relationship with her and it’s impact on a presidential election, and that clarity also needs to apply to the Eugene Carroll cases and I mean the initial defamation case AND the new one caused by the Orange One, 2 days after the initial verdict and that clarity is also soon to needed in Fulton County, Georgia, and back in DC with the January 6 debacle and in the Southern district of New York with additional Orange person horrors…and God knows, perhaps elsewhere too!
Yes. How we remember history matters. But we have to learn it first. I taught in all Black middle school from 1967-1978. How can it be that I never even heard of Juneteenth until decades later?
Now let’s talk about actually teaching black history in classrooms. Let’s talk about environmental Justice and real socialized healthcare to address the massive gaps between African Americans and white folk. Let’s talk about reparations.
Heather, thanks for this exceptional history lesson. I must admit, I have learned a lot from this writing tonight.
These is a question though.
With the current laws in affect in states like Florida, where Governor DeSantis and his minions in his Republican state legislature. How will the people of the state be able to celebrate this holiday, or the educators be able to mention, or discuss it, in their classrooms for fear of being jailed?
We all do remember the ridiculous laws that they passed where things like this can’t be discussed . After all, it is about slavery, and the Civil War. That’s two things that can’t be discussed in Florida schools!
And justice for all. Thank you Professor.