{"id":7266,"date":"2020-06-19T15:52:17","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T19:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?post_type=wfsu-news&p=7266"},"modified":"2020-06-23T10:41:18","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T14:41:18","slug":"heightened-awareness-of-juneteenth-comes-amid-discussions-on-race-culture-in-america","status":"publish","type":"wfsu-news","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/heightened-awareness-of-juneteenth-comes-amid-discussions-on-race-culture-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Heightened Awareness Of Juneteenth Comes Amid Discussions On Race, Culture In America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a proclamation observing today, June 19. It\u2019s the date in 1865 when African Americans in Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was the last Confederate state to receive the news. The date is celebrated as an official holiday or observance in most states but not all. Now, amid discussions about race in the United States, this year\u2019s Juneteenth is taking on a higher prominence.<\/p>\n

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 in the third year of the Civil War. In it, he declared “That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

But according to the National Archives<\/a>, the extent of the Proclamation was limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt applied only to states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy (the Southern secessionist states) that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union (United States) military victory,\u201d the archives writes in its description of the Proclamation.<\/p>\n

It would take the document two years to circulate through the U.S. with the last enslaved African-Americans learning of it in Texas on June 19, 1865, a date that would eventually become Juneteenth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had no telephones, no television, no radio no fax machines, nothing. So they got the news by these union soldiers who rode throughout the country,\u201d state Rep. Geraldine Thompson explained to NPR member station WMFE in Orlando<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thompson notes the soldiers got to Tallahassee on May 20th<\/sup>,1865. Union Brigadier General Edward M. McCook announced the news at the Knott House. The moment is marked by a yearly commemoration<\/a> on those very steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone should know when, why, and where their freedom was decided and what was decided about their freedom,\u201d Keith Rodgers, founder and CEO of Black on Black Rhyme told WFSU in 2017<\/a>. \u201cThey say if you don\u2019t know your past, you\u2019re doomed to repeat it. You\u2019d be surprised what people don\u2019t know until you realize that they don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s commemoration also carries greater significance than in years past. Increasing awareness of race and cultural disparities are boosting the date in the public eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere needs to be some commemoration for the end of slavery in America, said Thompson. For too long, it\u2019s been overlooked and overshadowed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s supporting an effort to make the holiday federally recognized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe celebrate July 4th<\/sup> as America\u2019s independence, and I think this is just as important in terms of the independence and freedom of African Americans,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Florida lawmakers considered a memorial requesting Congress make Juneteenth a federal holiday earlier this year, and while the Senate voted to adopt it, the measure didn\u2019t get a House hearing.<\/p>\n

This year marks the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth. At present, 45 states including Florida and the District of Columbia celebrate the day as a holiday or observance. Texas was the first state to make it a state holiday. Florida was the second.<\/p>\n

Governor Ron DeSantis has marked the date with a proclamation as well. In it he says \u201cJuneteenth is an important opportunity to honor the principals of the Declaration of Independence and celebrate the achievements and contributions African-Americans have made and continue to make in Florida, and across our Nation.\u201d <\/p>\n

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