Today is the first time Juneteenth has been a holiday and a day off under the 2023 National Agreement between the UAW and GM. While a day off, especially with the current extreme production schedule, is welcome there is more to this holiday than a little downtime. To find out how much more the National Museum of African American History and Culture answers What Is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth is a significant date in American history and the African American experience. The name is a play on the date of June 19th, 1865. On that day, the Union Army made its way into Galveston, TX under the leadership of General Gordon Granger, and he announced to the people of Texas that all enslaved African Americans were free.
Even though we know that the Emancipation Proclamation freed African Americans in rebelling states (Texas being one of them, from as early as it when the Proclamation went into effect on January 1st, 1863) and we know that the Civil War had ended in April of 1865, it took a while for freedom to make its way to the western most rebelling state. Although there were enslavers who were aware of the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation, it wasn’t until June 19th, 1865 that it was actually enforced with the Union Army. June 19th freed enslaved people in the rebelling states, it did not free enslaved people throughout the nation.
