The Shadow
Juneteenth
Thursday, June 19th marks America’s celebration of Juneteenth.
The national holiday is meant to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.
Interestingly, this date does not signify the official nationwide end to slavery.
Slavery was a fairly common practice, even in the North, as the United States transitioned from its colonial period to its independence.
In fact, full emancipation would not be granted until 1827 in New York and 1847 in Pennsylvania.
According to the Equal Justice Initiative (website), even after Congress abolished the Atlantic Slave Trade in 1807, traders from Massachusetts and other states continued activities trafficking Africans.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, the abolition movement which advocated for the freedom of slaves spread. In the North, prominent abolitionists, like Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, gained many supporters, mostly in the North.
Debate over slavery intensified in the halls of Congress as the country grew and admitted new states. The admission of “free” states and “slave” states complicated legislative efforts and national unity.
During the American Civil War on New Year’s Day of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Proclamation declared “all persons held as slaves” in states that were in “rebellion against the United States” were free.
The Proclamation could not be enforced at that time, as the South did not recognize Lincoln’s order.
In addition, the Proclamation did not apply to border states which had not seceded from the Union.
Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C., were all slaveholding areas, but they did not secede from the Union. Accordingly, the slaves in those areas were not freed as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Therefore, slavery was still practiced in both the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War.
West Virginia separated from the Commonwealth of Virginia during the Civil War. On June 20, 1863, the U.S. Congress formally recognized West Virginia as a state.
After General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865, others in the South followed suit in laying down their arms.
Accordingly, the path to freedom could commence and/or continue for many slaves. Juneteenth focuses on those in Galveston, Texas.
Galveston’s slave community was unaware of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, where they notified the local slave population that they were free.
However, more progress had to be made to fully destroy the institution of slavery in the United States.
The U.S. Constitution amendment that abolished slavery, the Thirteenth Amendment, was ratified by the States in 1865, but not until December, well after Union Troops arrived in Galveston.
As the Reconstruction era continued, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments soon followed to expand rights to slaves.
Despite these significant milestones, Juneteenth always resonated within the African American community as the major date to celebrate their freedom.
For many years even before its birth as a national holiday, Juneteenth celebrations were commonplace in many African American communities.
Of those to launch such celebrations in Southwest Virginia, I remember my friend and former colleague in the Virginia House of Delegates, Onzlee Ware.
The two of us were often on opposite sides of legislative efforts. We differed in policy ideas and beliefs.
As a result of knowing each other while practicing law in the Roanoke Valley, Delegate Ware and I became friends. We were not afraid to work across the aisle to get things done for the people we represented in the Roanoke Valley.
Accordingly, Delegate Ware, the first Black legislator from the Western part of Virginia, invited me to a Juneteenth celebration that he organized.
Because of his invitation, I began to recognize the importance of this day.
I appreciated Delegate Ware for the invitation and the opportunity to spend time with the community that spread awareness about Juneteenth.
While Delegate Ware has since passed away, my memories of him and his leadership in making me and many others in Southwest Virginia aware of the importance of Juneteenth will always remain.
Folks in the Ninth District commemorating Juneteenth include the Fayette Area Historical Initiative in Martinsville. I visited them last year during their Juneteenth celebration.
There will be many other such celebrations in Southwest Virginia this year.
To everyone in the Ninth District, no matter your heritage, I hope on this Juneteenth you will reflect on the value of freedom.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.
