Juneteenth In Texas
Posted on 06/19/2004 6:40:18 AM PDT by bayourod
Juneteenth is to the black community what St. Patricks Day is to the Irish and Cinco De Mayo is to the Hispanics.
It celebrates the day that slaves in Galveston learned that they had been freed two years earlier.
It's an official state holidfay in several states, including New Jersey, There will be local celebrations at churches, community centers, parks, etc...all over the country as well as about a dozen foreign countries; California ,South Carolina ...
Check you local newspaper or call a church to find out where your voters will be celebrating. If tickets or required or plate dinners are sold, buy enough for your entragage plus pay for extras that the sponsors can give to those what might could use them. Even if you don't pick up any votes, they will defenitely remember that you showed respect for their history. It may help after you win.
Recipes for those with bad blood"
You mean it's the day that that damned imperialist and Southron-hater Lincoln's evil plot to dispossess the South of its dearest rights was brought to its fruition?
/sarcasm
Seriously I like this holiday a lot more than I like "Kwanzwqqoiues" or whatever the hell its called.
And more importantly, is it a Federal holiday?
June 19th is the traditional day, although I've usually seen it celebrated on the nearest Saturday.
It's not an "official" holiday on the Federal level; it is in a few states.
Given the US has the fewest holidays of any country (true statement) I'm all for more holidays generally speaking-so long as they don't celebrate Robert E. Lee or other traitors who should have been executed.
g
And what sorts of traditions mark these celebrations?
Whoa, there! Where did you get educated about the War Between the States? Which public (government) school taught you that?
Well it doesn't pretend to be deeply religious and traditional.
I read.... something other than "Gone with the Wind", I mean.
Juneteenth almost always focused on education and self improvement. Thus often guest speakers are brought in and the elders are called upon to recount the events of the past. Prayer services were also a major part of these celebrations.
Certain foods became popular and subsequently synonymous with Juneteenth celebrations such as strawberry soda-pop. More traditional and just as popular was the barbecuing, through which Juneteenth participants could share in the spirit and aromas that their ancestors - the newly emancipated African Americans, would have experienced during their ceremonies. Hence, the barbecue pit is often established as the center of attention at Juneteenth celebrations.
Food was abundant because everyone prepared a special dish. Meats such as lamb, pork and beef which not available everyday were brought on this special occasion. A true Juneteenth celebrations left visitors well satisfied and with enough conversation to last until the next.
Dress was also an important element in early Juneteenth customs and is often still taken seriously, particularly by the direct descendants who can make the connection to this tradition's roots. During slavery there were laws on the books in many areas that prohibited or limited the dressing of the enslaved. During the initial days of the emancipation celebrations, there are accounts of former slaves tossing their ragged garments into the creeks and rivers to adorn clothing taken from the plantations belonging to their former 'masters'. "
His word would have been good, as always, but the Union troops destroyed the shipyard and drove off the blacks when they arrived. ( The "slaves" tried to defend the shipyard - all the men had guns - but G-G-Grandpa called upon them to surrender to an overwhelming force.) The damn yankees wouldn't let the blacks be rehired by the family as freedmen and they were moved off the island at union gunpoint.
Not all slaveowners were Simon Legrees!
BTW I'm 1/8 black, but not on that side of the family...
My ancestors were slaves as well. Being Irish, they were forced to serve the English and had nothing but rotten potatoes to eat. Thank God they found a way to America. We aren't seek reparations, by the way.
Juneteenth In Texas
You mean the hated tariff, which no one ever bothered to secede over until the abolitionists came to power?
"There's no marketing budget. It's by word of mouth," Matthews explained this week. "Some months it's thin. Some months it's thick. We just manage to stay with it."
Today, though, promises to be different. Matthews expects about 300 visitors. To entertain them, he will have an actress on hand portraying Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman.
The reason for the surge in interest is Juneteenth, the state holiday that commemorates the day in 1865 that Union Gen. Gordon Granger announced in Galveston that President Lincoln had ordered freedom for all slaves -- two years before.
Matthews noted that Granger wasn't standing there alone; he was accompanied by as many as 300 black soldiers in Union uniforms to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. Matthews said those black Civil War soldiers would later go on to become buffalo soldiers when the black regiments formed in 1866.
To him, there simply would be no Juneteenth without the black soldiers. He said the museum volunteers make sure those soldiers are remembered.
I and many other Texans proudly celebrate Confederate Heroes Day and the birthdays of those great Americans.
In Texas we have a choice of a holiday on June teenth or Confederate Heroes Day.
Your hate speech only shows you're totally misinformed about the war on the South and it's aftermath.
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