You have heard the saying about how a seventh son of a seventh son is a lucky man indeed, right? Special, and possibly imbued with magical powers to heal and ward off evil? No? Well, it's mostly an Irish thing, so is it any wonder that with a name like "Brian Thornton," I practically grew up on stuff like this?
The connection between fathers and sons, the things they carry in common beyond the genetic, is part of what I'm writing about today. You see, I was born on a holiday. So was my son. Not the same holiday, but a holiday, nonetheless.
The holiday with which I share my birthday? April 1. Yep, April Fool's Day (Spare me the jokes. Trust me. I've already heard them!). My son? Well....
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| Here's a niiiiice subtle hint for ya! |
On June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger, new commander of all U.S Army troops in Texas, issued General Order Number 3, and directed that it be read out as a proclamation on the main street corners and in the public squares of the newly captured city of Galveston, Texas:
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.
This proclamation officially brought to an end the institution of slavery within the borders of the United States in fact as well as in legal code. With the Trans-Mississippi section of the states rebelling against the government of the United States having been surrendered to Union troops by Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith a mere seventeen days earlier, it was close to a sure thing that many enslaved residents of the area had no idea that President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 had already (legally and technically) set them, and every other slave in the states then in rebellion against the Union, free.
So of course it goes without saying that as of 1865, June 19th has been viewed by many in this country as being a real mile marker in the history of our imperfect, flawed, lumbering, plodding, inefficient, frequently unfair, and yet still-the-best-option-we-have-going republic.
Think about it. 159 years ago this incredibly important event signifying the end of nearly 350 years of legalized slavery took place, and today, 159 years later, we as a nation commemorate it with a federal holiday, and what I am given to understand is a whole lotta barbecue.
Which means that not only did slavery on this continent have an official ending date, but one that none of the following could erase from collective memory:
- Racially motivated violence.
- The failure of Reconstruction.
- Racially motivated violence.
- Black codes.
- Racially motivated violence.
- Jim Crow laws.
- Racially motivated violence.
- Hundreds upon hundreds of racially motivated lynchings.
- Racially motivated violence.
- The presidential administration of Woodrow Wilson.
- Racially motivated violence.
- "Sundown laws."
- Racially motivated violence.
- Racial segregation.
- Racially motivated violence.
- The Klan.
- Racially motivated violence.
- The United Daughters of the Confederacy.
- Racially motivated violence.
- Steppin Fetchit.
- Racially motivated violence.
- Ex-Confederate post-bellum revisionism (See Germany, June of 1945 onward over several decades: "Yes, Hitler was terrible. I never liked him and I never voted for him and I was never a Nazi and I didn't know what they did to the Jews until the Allies freed the concentration camps..." etc., etc., etc. Now tweak it a bit: "The war was never about slavery. It was about states' rights..." Un-huh. Sure.).
- Racially motivated violence.
- Douglas Southall Freeman.
- Racially motivated violence.
- All those cheap bronze statues of ex-Confederate military leaders popping up all over the country in the 1920s (thanks largely to groups like the above-mentioned United Daughters of the Confederacy).
- Racially motivated violence.
- The United Daughters of the Confederacy (Again).
- Racially motivated violence.
- The "Lost Cause" hogwash.
- Racially motivated violence.
- The Birth of a Nation ("Hey! President Wilson! Look! The Klan are the GOOD GUYS!").
- Racially motivated violence.
- The Civil Rights backlash (in so many ways still ongoing).
- Racially motivated violence.
- Racial profiling.
- Racially motivated violence.
- Keeping Harriet Tubman off the $20 bill.
- Racially motivated violence.
- And did I mention....
- Racially motivated violence?
- I'm sure I'm leaving plenty out.
Bear in mind that I'm an historian with an advanced degree and a specialization in 19th century America, and yet I never once heard of Juneteenth in any way, shape, manner or form until just about ten years ago. Now I know what you're thinking: "What does that say about your skills/education as an historian?" I'll tell you what it says about them. It says, "I was born white and male, raised and educated on the West Coast, and didn't hear about it until I actually did."
Now to tie it all together with a bow.
My son is 12 years old. I first heard about Juneteenth if the context of its coincidental sharing the date with his birthday. That's right. At 11:55 AM on June 19th, 2012, James Andrew Thornton came in to this world. That's 147 years after General Granger's proclamation of General Order Number 3.
The part that gets me? James is older than our collective national recognition of the importance of Juneteenth by 8 years and 364 days. President Joe Biden, the most consequential president of my lifetime (Yes, I said it, and I MEANT it. And what's more, I'm bringing receipts.), signed "Juneteenth National Independence Day" into existence the day before James' 9th birthday, on June 18th, 2021.
As i said above, our creaking, inefficient, sluggish, slow-to-change republic has been tardy on the recognition of this so very important holiday, this hallmark moment, this mile marker, this signifying that we as a nation finally get that it is WRONG to enslave fellow human beings.
The United States. Nearly always late to the party. But still the best option we've got.
So Happy Juneteenth! And Happy Birthday to James, who, at 12, is older than the holiday!
(Yes, I am aware that this won't post until the 20th. My celebration of this important day stands!)
