When Juneteenth became a national holiday within the United States, I felt a sense of dread. The date – which marks the anniversary of when Union troops liberated enslaved African Americans in Galveston and Texas on June 19, 1865 – is regarded as Emancipation Day for Black Texans.
When President Joe Biden signed the holiday into federal law in 2021, the younger generation of Black Texans felt the action was done in response to national uprisings around George Floyd, not the advocacy work of Opal Lee, who campaigned for years for the holiday to be recognized by the federal government. In the years since the holiday’s recognition on a federal level, the traditions and voices of Black Texans have been erased from nationwide Juneteenth celebrations.
The discourse around this year’s Juneteenth celebration has been described as the “diaspora wars” on social media. Debates around which music should be played (Afrobeats and soca versus Southern hip hop), and who the holiday belongs to (Black people in the United States vs. Black Texans) speaks to my initial worry and fear. The Texan element of Juneteenth has been removed, in favor of a broader commercialization that fails to acknowledge the contributions of Black Texans. Without the labor of Reverend Jack Yates, Richard Allen, Richard Brock, and Reverend Elias, freedmen who raised funds for the creation of Emancipation Park, which held one of the first Juneteenth celebrations as of note, in Houston, Texas; there would be no blueprint for present day celebrations to exist.
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To be fair, there have always been Juneteenth celebrations outside of Texas. Throughout the Southern United States and regions of the U.S. and Mexico, where descendants of Black Texans migrated to, the holiday has been celebrated. However, the current discourse can be attributed to its stature of a federal holiday. Deah Berry Mitchell, a Texas-based writer and historian who lectures on the history and culture of Juneteenth, expresses her thoughts on how the holiday can move forward.
“ I think there is a way that other states can celebrate it while acknowledging the beauty of Black Texans and our contributions and all that we have contributed,” she says. “I wish that there was a way that they were open to allowing Black Texans to be the stewards of this conversation that we’re having on a national scale.”
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She equates the holiday to Junkanoo, a Bahamian holiday. Sasha Wells – a graduate student in history at Florida International University specializing in Caribbean History) – also weighs in.
“In the Bahamas, the tradition dates back to when enslavers gave their slaves a day off during the holidays as reprieve,” writes Sasha writes for TIME. “Enslaved people often used this time for celebration and subtle protest, creating the foundation for Junkanoo as both a fete honoring the African diaspora and a form of resistance.”
Similar to Juneteenth, the holiday is celebrated outside of the Bahamas, yet the Bahamian roots and regional identity are intrinsically tied to celebrations, in what that Juneteenth celebrations outside of Texas are not.
“It’s never been about one day for us,” says Mitchell. “It’s always been about our identity.” She recalls a memory of when she was a little girl learning a speech for a Juneteenth program at her local church. In Texas, Juneteenth is celebrated with rodeos and baseball games, picnics and barbecues, and community celebrations and pageants. It has never been a competition, but a day to celebrate our heritage.
“Allow us to show you what that means to us,” she says. “Listen to us when we are speaking about our identity.” She worries that the mass reproduction of the holiday from people who are not familiar with the history of Juneteenth will repackage it to be sold to the masses.
There is no way to reverse Juneteenth’s standing as a federal holiday, but there is ample time for Black Texans to be centered in celebrations of their heritage and culture.
Top photo – Pictured: Beyoncé, Source: AAP
