Meaning of Texas’ Juneteenth lost in Boston

There are so few celebrations to unite African Americans that anyone who criticizes such an occasion is seen as the equivalent of the Grinch who stole Christmas. However, some holidays help to fashion the culture of a group, so the leaders have a responsibility to assure that the symbolism is positive. There is some question as to whether the Juneteenth celebration meets that standard.

Abraham Lincoln was determined to end slavery, but as president he lacked the constitutional authority to do so. However, as Commander in Chief of the Union Army he was authorized to end slavery as a military tactic to weaken the states of the Confederacy. By executive order, Lincoln issued a proclamation that slavery would be abolished on Jan. 1, 1863. This decree applied only to those states and sections of the states that joined the Confederacy in the Civil War after Apr. 12, 1861. That included the original Confederate states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas, as well as Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and parts of Virginia. Slavery was still permissable elsewhere in the slave states.

News of Lincoln’s proclamation travelled throughout the Confederacy but never was enforced in Texas until Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and Union troops landed in Galveston on June 19, 1865. There had been an almost 2½-year delay in the implementation of Lincoln’s proclamation in Texas. Even so, June 19, 1865 did not mark the end of slavery everywhere in the country. The abolition by Lincoln’s proclamation still applied only to the Confederacy.

On June 19, 1865, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, parts of Missouri and Virginia were still thriving as slave states. It was not until the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on Dec. 6, 1865 that slavery was legally abolished everywhere in America.

Juneteenth was originally a celebration for Texans. Efforts to extend it beyond the Lone Star State create a historical conundrum. The date that should be celebrated for the legal abolition of slavery in America is Dec. 6, 1865, for the ratification of the 13th Amendment.