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Why Juneteenth's Not My Thing
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Posted By:
Juneteenth at 09/14/2008 11:38:01 AM
Comment:
Juneteenth is America???s 2nd Independence Day celebration. 29 states and the District of Columbia recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or state holiday observance, as well as the Congress of the United States.
We honor our ancestors, Americans of African descent, by joining them in celebrating the announcement of freedom from enslavement through the reading of General Order #3 by Union General Gordon Granger, concerning the Emancipation Proclamation, over two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued it, on the "19th of June", 1865, in Galveston, TX.
The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all of our ancestors bounded by the tyranny of enslavement across the country. Slavery did not official end for the entire nation until the 13th Amendment was passed by congress in December of 1865.
However, those of us who celebrate Juneteenth have decided that honoring our ancestors, who celebrated following the reading of General Order #3, is the date that we will celebrate freedom from enslavement in America.
Together we will see Juneteenth become a national holiday in America!
???DOC???
Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D.
Chairman
National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign
National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF)
National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC)
http://www.Juneteenth.us
http://www.19thofJune.com
http://www.njclc.com
http://www.JuneteenthJazz.com -
Posted By:
Juneteenth at 09/14/2008 10:58:19 AM
Comment:
Juneteenth is America???s 2nd Independence Day celebration. 29 states and the District of Columbia recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or state holiday observance, as well as the Congress of the United States.
We honor our ancestors, Americans of African descent, by joining them in celebrating the announcement of freedom from enslavement through the reading of General Order #3 by Union General Gordon Granger, concerning the Emancipation Proclamation, over two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued it, on the "19th of June", 1865, in Galveston, TX.
The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all of our ancestors bounded by the tyranny of enslavement across the country. Slavery did not official end for the entire nation until the 13th Amendment was passed by congress in December of 1865.
However, those of us who celebrate Juneteenth have decided that honoring our ancestors, who celebrated following the reading of General Order #3, is the date that we will celebrate freedom from enslavement in America.
Together we will see Juneteenth become a national holiday in America!
???DOC???
Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D.
Chairman
National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign
National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF)
National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC)
http://www.Juneteenth.us
http://www.19thofJune.com
http://www.njclc.com
http://www.JuneteenthJazz.com -
Posted By:
famousauthor at 08/01/2008 6:18:52 PM
Comment:
July 2 was celebrated in St. Augustine, Florida with the launching of a Freedom Trail of historic sites of the civil rights movement. Ten markers were placed in 2007 and ten more in 2008. It was the demonstrations on the streets of St. Augustine, famed as the nation's oldest city, led by Dr. Robert B. Hayling and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that filled the pages of the nation's newspaper in the weeks leading up to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. For many decades thereafter, millions of people visited St. Augustine each year without knowing anything about those events, which were carefully swept under the rug. Now, thanks to the Freedom Trail, they are out there for everyone to see. Hooray for July 2! Mark it on your calendar. -
Posted By:
rashidiayinde at 07/05/2008 3:41:47 PM
Comment:
Although this is an interesting point of view, I wouldn't say this is a point of view I share. Out of systemic misery many accomplishments have sprouted. American Indpendence was a result of oppressive British rule and I wouldn't say once Americans claimed their freedom that the tide was turned to prosperous plantation money generating juggernauts. So the Juneteenth celebration, as 4th of July, or Cinco de Mayo or any other day celebrating a day of change just marks the change but with that change other benefactors blossomed to benefit that people. -
Posted By:
Dr.T at 06/29/2008 6:05:31 PM
Comment:
I agree with Dr. Mcwhorter argument, but I personally know of no black person that celebrates Juneteenth. Perhaps there are a few in Texas or a few academic specialist, but other than that Juneteenth is not widely celebrated by black people or for that matter anybody. Therefore fortunately or unfortunately Mcwhorter has nothing to worry about. -
Posted By:
inenkinti at 06/26/2008 1:07:52 AM
Comment:
Interesting, but to a "People deprived" any day to not to wash the master clothes, cook his breakfast before you eat, comb his daughter'hair, while your own un washed hair baked in the noon day sun. Iron his wife's dress, and you dressed in your best, a wrinkled flour sack. Watch daylight come in, with six hours of work already behind you, and a sunset to go before your day can end. I say as a slave might have said, when they heard of Juneteeth, looking at her people on the land that owe her work worn hands, dancing, laughing, eating, sharing, spiting watermelon seeds, to the one standing beside her, "Feel good to sit down." -
Posted By:
cingram at 06/25/2008 5:17:21 PM
Comment:
juneteenth's not my thing, you want to talk about celebrating no matter how small or large, talk aboutl the Hispanics, and indians, and others have overcome, they stick together, build, and conquere. i believe what africa americans have been through have made them one of the strongest and smartest people walkiing this earth. you would hope that they would be in a better position than they are now. i know some of you are saying what are you talking about, we are about to have a black president, yes and i am happy about that, but; do you really believe he is getting elected because he is more qualified,than the repulicans ; and white people is saying , what we thought would keep the black folks down, is now affecting us. we have to make a change, so let's put this black man in office, and let him clean up this mess., then they can blame him. whenever there is a mess to clean up most of the time it's a black person to clean it up. junetenth have never been a real holiday to me, and i never really celebrated it, i celebrate my freedom everyday, every time i see an elderly person walking, struggling, homeless i say thank you, i cry because if we are so grateful, for the path that they have laid for us, why are so many of them forgotten about, while you are bar-b-q do you fix plates and take them some, i do, not just one day of the year, but i show my appreciation everyday. black people need to stop fighting one another and really come together for the sake of their race, because everyone is passing them by. if a hispanic would have ran for president do you think obama would be in the position he's in now, i really don't think so, hispanic are even considered a majority. wake up yes we have come a long way, but we have a long way to go, look within yourselves. ms. v dallas -
Posted By:
phythy2k at 06/24/2008 10:30:15 PM
Comment:
I take issue with Mr. McWhorter's irreverent view of the past sacrifices that many many slaves and ex-slaves gave. It was only on their backs and those who believed along with them that there was a chance for the civil rights movement. Grant it, Blacks have been through hell and back but we are stronger for it. No one likes to think of our people past enslavement but what we actually do and learn from their sacrifices is more important but we do need to embrace it. It is a part of our history and it makes us appreciate even more the gifts and privileges we are experiencing today. We earned it...our rights and our emancipation. Yeah...we EARNED it so celebrate it. -
Posted By:
Bcomin33 at 06/24/2008 4:00:19 AM
Comment:
I understand where Mr. McWhorter is coming from, however, I would then venture to say that we would have to drop his (White man) holidays, religion, adopted names and nationalities.-
Posted By:
Bcomin33 at 06/24/2008 4:01:50 AM
Comment:
In addition freedom is not given, its taken!
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Posted By:
lgggggg at 06/24/2008 3:23:13 AM
Comment:
um..."around the same time as everyone else's July 4"
so...don't celebrate the national holiday if you're black. -
Posted By:
urbonita1 at 06/23/2008 10:54:01 PM
Comment:
We should participate in any SMALL and large victories over hatred, bigotry, and oppression. Mexican Americans celebrate their independent on May 5, when it actually September 20th or 21st. A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step. Let's allow no one to forget the past victories in our history. -
Posted By:
urbonita1 at 06/23/2008 10:45:25 PM
Comment:
We should participate in any SMALL and large victories over hatred, bigotry, and oppression. Mexican american celebrate their independent on May 5, when it actually September 20th or 21st. People remember, a journey of thousand miles begins with a singel step. Let's allow no one to forget the past victories in our history. -
Posted By:
dailyfare at 06/23/2008 1:52:44 PM
Comment:
"if for some bizarre reason blacks had not participated in the Abolitionist movement and had never revolted, it is thoroughly plausible that emancipation would have happened anyway."
If blacks had not participated in their own freedom struggle, why would whites have bothered to keep up the struggle over decades? If you don't want freedom, why would I bust my butt to give it to you? -
Posted By:
dnice47 at 06/23/2008 10:01:55 AM
Comment:
The righteousness of Juneteenth is that it is an organic celebration developed locally in Texas and northern Louisiana that has spread throughout the country. It is real. In contrast to Kwanza, that is a contrived inorganic hodgepodge that some dude from Cal State Long Beach made up. Juneteenth is rural, celebrated by the black underclass and mostly misunderstood. That's why it is a perfect black American holiday. It's our Yom Kippur. -
Posted By:
philly at 06/23/2008 1:41:38 AM
Comment:
I understand some of your reservations, but I think it's important to remember that those Union soldiers would not have been in Texas, and slaves would not have been freed if not for black people. Not only were many freed people of color and many escaped slaves crucial leaders in the abolitionist movement, but those freed people, who lived in both the North and South, made freedom for enslaved Africans all the more possible by forming their own communities and by building their own institutions and finding economic niches. The decisions that Lincoln made were informed by the ideas and actions of blacks, slave and free. Juneteenth Day is a day of their making. -
Posted By:
memaw at 06/22/2008 10:17:30 PM
Comment:
I think for some of us Juneteenth echos how we feel about Lincoln and his failure not to act sooner when faced with freeing people of color. I don't celebrat Juneteenth because of what happened in Texas but for my people who were here before you and your ancesters I am a NATIVE AMERICAN as you fondlly call us. We wre here first when is our freedom coming? -
Posted By:
JCA at 06/21/2008 10:55:57 AM
Comment:
You write:
I can even imagine July 2 becoming a kind of alternate Independence Day celebration for black Americans, occurring around the same time as everyone else's July 4, but with a special in-group meaning.
This strikes me as problematic--isn't there a difference between celebrating cultural history and isolating it from others? Shouldn"t all of America be encouraged to participate in celebrating and commerating a victory over hatred, bigotry, and oppression? -
Posted By:
blackdiamond72 at 06/21/2008 9:34:31 AM
Comment:
Why Celebrate the signing of the Civil Rights Act, then? It was also giving to us by white people. White people in congress had to pass it. We must celebrate all of our Black/African holidays and celebrations. They give a sense of history, heritage, and pride. We celebrate in remembrance from whence we came. It is true that Black/Africans are still not truly emancipated or liberated from white oppression and racism, but we should not further exacerbate that by not celebrating the days or events that are important to our people. We must remember our story.Maybe the way you celebrate is the problem. Nobody said you have to have a picnic or BBQ to celebrate Juneteenth. This should be a day of remembrance and a history lesson to our people to show that even though we were freed from the physical chains of slavery we still have yet to free ourselves from the mental and spiritual chains of slavery. Then, with the Ancestor's help we can all move forward toward liberation.
Forvever forward, backwards, NEVER!
The struggle continues. -
Posted By:
jdylan at 06/21/2008 7:18:55 AM
Comment:
I agree with much of what John has written here. This holiday does seem to be much more of white independence from slavery than a black liberation. It was because of the feelings and lies that must accompany such actions that the majority whites grew so tired of. They chose to rather kill and die than maintain that frame of mind. Altruism is a false word in it's very definition. Even today the black American does not know true independence; affirmative action is the example here. The white man is still trying to free the black man in this country. Or perhaps the day the black finds the philosophy that all oppression is a form of self oppression. Of course that isn't going to happen within the Judeo-Christian-Islam religions or any belief in a god that stands above oneself on all things. There are very few, including whites, who know true independence. As for religions the Buddhist comes the closet. -
Posted By:
Scholar_in_training at 06/21/2008 5:19:23 AM
Comment:
I think John may be missing an integral piece of the puzzle when discussing Juneteenth. While it is indeed, and should be, a nationwide celebration of emancipation, it is important to recognize the historical events at the state level. Enslaved Blacks were supposed to be freed by the Guerrero Decree of 1829, essentially calling for the freeing of enslaved peoples throughout the Republic of Mexico, which at that time included Texas. Not surprisingly, to protect white property owners, that decree was not extended to Texas. Seven years later, Texas provided legal sanction for the holding of enslaved Blacks, further crushing the hopes of all that were enslaved.
So after almost 30 years of legal slavery in the state of Texas, to hear word that one???s physical, emotional, and sexual status was no longer defined outside of him/herself is, for me, unimaginable.
John, it may appear that African Americans were not agents in their own freedom, but I, along with W.E.B DuBois in Black Reconstruction, would argue differently. However, I will not belabor this point, Juneteenth is the topic at hand.
To say the least African American are a celebratory people and for good reason. At the end of the day, June 19th, is a day for reflection, celebration, imagining your future all while paying homage to an experience that could have possibly been the best day in your ancestor???s lives. General Gordon Granger, the Union general responsible for reading the decree, has never been a focus of the holiday, rather celebrating a freedom inconceivable for Black Texans before 1865. -
Posted By:
Scholar_in_training at 06/21/2008 5:18:46 AM
Comment:
I think John may be missing an integral piece of the puzzle when discussing Juneteenth. While it is indeed, and should be, a nationwide celebration of emancipation, it is important to recognize the historical events at the state level. Enslaved Blacks were supposed to be freed by the Guerrero Decree of 1829, essentially calling for the freeing of enslaved peoples throughout the Republic of Mexico, which at that time included Texas. Not surprisingly, to protect white property owners, that decree was not extended to Texas. Seven years later, Texas provided legal sanction for the holding of enslaved Blacks, further crushing the hopes of all that were enslaved.
So after almost 30 years of legal slavery in the state of Texas, to hear word that one???s physical, emotional, and sexual status was no longer defined outside of him/herself is, for me, unimaginable.
John, it may appear that African Americans were not agents in their own freedom, but I, along with W.E.B DuBois in Black Reconstruction, would argue differently. However, I will not belabor this point, Juneteenth is the topic at hand.
To say the least African American are a celebratory people and for good reason. At the end of the day, June 19th, is a day for reflection, celebration, imagining your future all while paying homage to an experience that could have possibly been the best day in your ancestor???s lives. General Gordon Granger, the Union general responsible for reading the decree, has never been a focus of the holiday, rather celebrating a freedom inconceivable for Black Texans before 1865. ~Mon -
Posted By:
CaLIndependent at 06/21/2008 1:49:31 AM
Comment:
I grew in Georgia and I never even heard of Juneteenth til I moved to California. I'm sorry I don't understand what the big deal is and not ashamed of saying so. I kinda agree with McWhorter. Yes he is a conservative but his point is valid. Why are celebrating a day that really didn't set us free? Then I have the issue with Juneteenth being in JUNE, months after the end of the Civil War. So what makes this day more significant than others? -
Posted By:
nmarden at 06/20/2008 10:19:48 PM
Comment:
Amen, my friend! -
Posted By:
Cannonball at 06/20/2008 4:39:29 PM
Comment:
Obviously, the seductive lure of assimilation has a richer, and creamer texture for this brother. Juneteenth is as much a defiant remembering of our ancestral roots of survival, after the passage, and is the period at the end of the sentence. By citing the Civil Right Act as profound, lends to labeling one with the stench of profound naivete. And, to think it dismantled Jim Crow... But Then again, Manhattan Institute? Consider the source... -
Posted By:
davisjam at 06/20/2008 4:37:11 PM
Comment:
As this HOLLAHDAY comes to a close, another Point Of View on our condition emerges. For me, Juneteenth has always been about "recognizing" rather than "celebrating". But what the heck... get more than three black folk together (for any reason), some BBQ, Melon, Big Red Sodas... and look out for the Music, Bid Wist, Trash Talk, Dancing and Stories... the party is ON. I celebrate because WE keep showing up, ready to celebrate! My Love and God's Peace... in Celebration of our Endurance, Resurgance and (occassional) Abiding Grace. -
Posted By:
eidercita at 06/20/2008 3:44:22 PM
Comment:
To me what Juneteenth really represents is the first time that a black holiday was celebrated. Previous to that all holidays were to celebrate white history and white accomplishments. That said, having a celebration on July 2nd as well would be the perfect way to bring things full circle. -
Posted By:
mmccoy at 06/20/2008 3:36:27 PM
Comment:
Sir: Comparing the abolition of slavery to the Civil Rights Act is silly. You want present Black folks to abandon commemorating the most significant day in African American history to celebrate some legislation that enabled your daddy to get a good job. I don???t think so! Using three books to establish what life was like for all of blacks after the emancipation is absurd. It???s like a future researcher looking back at our time and using BET as proof that all black folks were clowns. Not true. Happy JUNETEENTH! -
Posted By:
mmccoy at 06/20/2008 3:36:00 PM
Comment:
mmccoy
Sir: Comparing the abolition of slavery to the Civil Rights Act is silly. You want present Black folks to abandon commemorating the most significant day in African American history to celebrate some legislation that enabled your daddy to get a good job? I don???t think so! Using three books to establish what life was like for all of blacks after the emancipation is absurd. It???s like a future researcher looking back at our time and using BET as proof that all black folks were clowns with gold teeth. Not true. Happy JUNETEENTH! -
Posted By:
Elliemae at 06/20/2008 2:55:35 PM
Comment:
This is typical McWhorter mystic thinking. Grow up. -
Posted By:
Hadrienne at 06/20/2008 2:33:40 PM
Comment:
Freedom ain't free. As a nearly 68-year-old Black woman raised in Houston by a damnyankee mama and a native Texan daddy I grew up with mixed emotions about Juneteenth. For me, it was insulting to acknowledge that my ancestors were cheated out of 18 months of our government-given-liberty by recalcitrant and inept Anglos. Still, neither my mama nor my daddy endorsed our (siblings) participation in the biggest J'thth activity in the area: The dubious honor of spending the entire day and our entire allowances at Playland Park.
Without Juneteenth, Playland Park probably would have closed a decade earlier than it did. As an older adolescent, occupied with sit-ins, stand-ins and the like, I remember a demonstration that fizzled when they let us in. The only attraction of interest was a really wimpy rollercoaster. My daddy insieted that the annual Juneteenth celebration generated enough revenue to keep the place afloat for another year.
I can't say that I ever turned down a barbecued rib or a slice of watermelon on the 19th of June, but I don't do strawberry soda-water--not even today.
Holly A. Hogrobrooks
hahx2@sbcglobal.net -
Posted By:
Wanderer at 06/20/2008 2:32:40 PM
Comment:
I think your commenters have missed your point (ignoring the racist ignorance of nfamous): Freedom is more than being freed from one form of enslavement; it's a state of empowerment and, in the American political experience, this did not really begin for Black Americans until the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That being said, I think the appropriation of Juneteenth is a valid celebration. The emancipation of slaves in the former Confederate states is a notable and critical date; and it put the United states on an unavoidable path to the complete elimination of slavery, as evidenced ultimately by the 13th Amendment. Of course, Juneteenth historically represents the emancipation of slaves in Texas; and on those grounds, I might suggest that December 6th -- the date of ratification of the 13th Amendment -- might be a better celebration of emancipation. A celebration of emancipation coupled with celebration of later empowerment might contribute to a framework for recognizing the powerful history of blacks in America. -
Posted By:
loric at 06/20/2008 2:18:46 PM
Comment:
You have a right to your opinion, but I believe, sometimes, we can be so technical about things that we fail to see the positivie. We celebrate Juneteenth because it the is the day our ancestors found out that they're lives had been changed and they had become FREE people. That is the big picture--the positive end result of the knowledge they received on that day back in 1865. How it came about and who brought it about is irrelevant to the big picture. I believe people like Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth would disagree with you on your perception. They did not do their work in vain, and although they weren't the actual ones who "set us free" with the Emancipation Proclamation, they played an important role in helping some people get to that point of freedom and in helping some people to see the wrongness in slavery. I'm not saying life after slavery was easy, because we know that it was not. I'm saying life after slavery was a beginning and an opportunity to lead to a better life. Wouldn't you celebrate if someone gave you $10,000? Or would you only celebrate the paycheck you work for? So, once again, it doesn't matter that as you say, WE didn't give ourselves freedom. What matters is that we got it. That, to me, is a reason to CELEBRATE! -
Posted By:
loric at 06/20/2008 2:18:24 PM
Comment:
You have a right to your opinion, but I believe, sometimes, we can be so technical about things that we fail to see the positive. We celebrate Juneteenth because it the is the day our ancestors found out that they're lives had been changed and they had become FREE people. That is the big picture--the positive end result of the knowledge they received on that day back in 1865. How it came about and who brought it about is irrelevant to the big picture. I believe people like Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth would disagree with you on your perception. They did not do their work in vain, and although they weren't the actual ones who "set us free" with the Emancipation Proclamation, they played an important role in helping some people get to that point of freedom and in helping some people to see the wrongness in slavery. I'm not saying life after slavery was easy, because we know that it was not. I'm saying life after slavery was a beginning and an opportunity to lead to a better life. Wouldn't you celebrate if someone gave you $10,000? Or would you only celebrate the paycheck you work for? So, once again, it doesn't matter that as you say, WE didn't give ourselves freedom. What matters is that we got it. That, to me, is a reason to CELEBRATE!-
Posted By:
miste315 at 06/23/2008 6:36:23 PM
Comment:
AMEN!!!
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Posted By:
ebogjonson at 06/20/2008 2:08:37 PM
Comment:
wait! i have a better one:
Shorter John "Talking Android" McWhorter - "Given my longstanding inability to empathize with the bulk of black people, I find myself unmoved by Juneteenth's tedious rememberances of olde tyme negroe sharecroppers. I would prefer to focus on the more recent roots of my privilege and disavowal."
gary dauphin/ebogjonson-
Posted By:
miste315 at 06/23/2008 6:37:31 PM
Comment:
Good one!!!
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Posted By:
krenaye76 at 06/20/2008 1:32:07 PM
Comment:
I don't understand how you believe we could be anywhere near where we are today, as a people and a country, without the Emancipation of ALL negro slaves. Because without Juneteenth, Texas and parts of Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas would still be slave-holding areas. Is it your position that those slaves should have waited an indefinite amount of time for their northern brothers and sisters to organize and wage a war (probably unsupported by the rest of the Union) on those southern states - keeping in mind that Texas had a fully functional, trained and capable militia that would certainly smash that down immediately.
The Union army had to arrive in Texas by boat in Galveston harbor, I'm sure that wasn't just because they wanted a nice sea vacation. More likely because they were meeting resistance when trying to occupy from the Northern tip of Tx. If the Union army couldn't do it with cannons, guns and trained infantrymen, how could newly freed slaves who lacked the money and the training? -
Posted By:
nfamous at 06/20/2008 1:22:43 PM
Comment:
McWhorter is a self-loathing, self-promoting coon that kowtows to conservative whites, who actually hate him although he is still in denial about that, to fund his mediocre prose. -
Posted By:
ebogjonson at 06/20/2008 1:19:51 PM
Comment:
Shorter John McWhorter:
I am unmoved by these depressing rememberances of olde tyme negroe sharecroppers, and prefer to focus on my own narrow interest and concerns. -
Posted By:
bpreacher1 at 06/20/2008 12:31:44 PM
Comment:
Your logic escapes me. The premise that we would have been freed one day indicates to me freedom itself was not important; but that we should have done it ourselves. How could an oppressed 11 - 12% of the population forces 88-89% of the population to change what they thought was right. Plus your stating we should continue to be patient right through 1964 because in my opinion the Civial Rights Act is nothing more than words on paper that drove discrimination underground. We still suffer injustice in the Court Room, the Board Room, and Financial arena. How long with this go on?
Yes, the cell doors were open by someone else and I find it obsurb that you would suggest that we stay in the cell until someone Black comes along. I am a firm believer that we can accomplish more outside the cell, that is, we didn't have so many assimilated Black people. -
Posted By:
ironista at 06/20/2008 11:48:52 AM
Comment:
To me, Juneteenth is like Christmas: both holidays mark the first stirrings of something momentous, and while the main emphasis in both cases should remain on the promise coming to fruition (i.e., Easter, and perhaps July 2), it's exhilarating to stop and celebrate that first breath of possibility. So, celebrate July 2 for triumph but keep Juneteenth for hope. Even hope that took a century to develop into something is, these days, worth nurturing. So, yes, celebrate the flowers of the present on July 2, but don't forget that they started as the seed of June 19. -
Posted By:
freeyrmind at 06/20/2008 11:45:35 AM
Comment:
so McWhorter would have us turn away from marking the day "someone else" freed our ancestors in favor of marking a more contemporary moment when, again, "someone else" signed the Civil Rights Act? And the logic here is?... John McWhorter is tedious. What with his hazy grasp of history and slipshod arguments, how does this writer keep getting so much exposure? I just learned this year that one of my formerly enslaved ancestors founded a town in Texas on June 19, 1865. As did many other former slaves in Texas right after emancipation. I am enormously proud of what my ancestor accomplished. I take inspiration from it. I am happy to celebrate his achievement and to rededicate myself to doing no less. -
Posted By:
thelawschooldropout at 06/20/2008 11:38:17 AM
Comment:
I think McWhorter's argument completely disregards the contributions made by African Americans in the struggle to gain our freedom. Emancipation and the legal acknowledgement of our basic civil rights was not just handed to us by a pair of white hands. We had to fight for them. I think the crux of his argument belies a fundamental problem inherent in virtually all historical analyses of the oppression of minority groups in this country.
That is, the timeline is still viewed through the lens of oppression and the contributions of the dominant (i.e. white/male/protestant/upper-class/heterosexual/able-bodied) group are valued over those of the minority group whose contributions to their own movement for equality largely go unrecognized. Here, with respect to emancipation, the history of the efforts of blacks to ensure their own freedom is suppressed in favor of the "progressive," "heroic," and "just" white males who "gave" them their freedom. The stories of our people who worked tirelessly for the cause are suppressed so much that we don't even know them; they aren't even part of the history curriculum in American schools. But everyone knows the story of Lincoln giving the Gettysburg Address and signing the Emancipation Proclamation.
I think that too often people view history as a series of absolute events, ever truthful in nature because (most times) we can stamp a date on them. This reasoning, however, is flawed. History is inherently viewed through a pair of bias-colored glasses which tend to focus the wearer on the contributions of the dominant group (which are valuable) and blur the contributions of the oppressed (which are not).
So, in the case of Juneteenth, I think the McWhorter's position reflects moreso the pressing need to really know and appreciate the real history of our people and our great contributions to society than the merits of celebrating our Emancipation. I think the fact that we know so little of our history clearly demonstrates that there is an absolute need to continue the celebration, to continue to learn more about our people and demand that our history be acknowledged and viewed as valid, lest yet another artifact of our past be faded into obscurity. Our stories are valuable and deserve to be told. -
Posted By:
100% humann at 06/20/2008 11:13:23 AM
Comment:
I'm of European descent and my parents got here just in time for the last of the civil rights and Vietnam war protests. They took me marching with them as they understood that they were participating in a huge change in a huge and important country. Since then I've grown up. I've taken my very-white-looking biracial kids with me to protest various injustices I've seen. And what I've learned, living these 44 years in a dwindling white minority in urban LA is that racism is not strictly something that white people are capable of. Of course this isn't news to you wise people here. I'm just trying to remind you that we ALL need to not only talk the talk, we need to walk the walk. Brown on black on white on whatever??????we need to stop this. And I think a big part of the problem is what happens in our prisons. Yes, I've been there a bit. For being a drug addict. Something the AMA says is a disease. What happens in our prisons is reflected out onto our streets. Look at Highland Park, look at Venice.
The thing is, I'm regularly assumed to be some mint-julep sippin' overseer's grand- or great-grandson. My family scratched out their subsistence living from what remained of a feudal system in eastern Europe. We had no slaves. We had no benefits from others above us who owned slaves. A black person to my grandparents would have been as much a curio as a circus strongman. Or more in fact. And yet today, in this modern America, as my parents, my son and myself get ready to vote for Obama, we still deal with racism regularly. My daughter who's in elementary school gets the brunt of it. Being pushed down into the dirt repeatedly in Kindergarten by some 5th-grade boys-of-color who told her to "shake that white ass, ***" even though she's half-Mexican. She's easy to pick out when we come to get her, not a lot of other kids with hair as light as hers on that playground. Trying for the following months to explain to her that those boys themselves were being bad, that it had nothing to do with their color. Sure, now you'll say, cry me a river white-boy, that ain't sh*t. Well, to us it is. I try to raise my kids to respect all. Ignorance and racism are cancers that afflict all races. Let's stop looking at it as a strictly white on everyone-else sort of problem.
Thank you for your time in reading this lengthy and less-well-put-together post than I'd hoped to make. -
Posted By:
Hip Hop Scholar at 06/20/2008 10:58:55 AM
Comment:
John, I actually agree with you on this piece. And yes, compared to your excerpt on Hip Hop and other selections on The Root this one seems to be the most sincere and also the most accurate. Your ideas about July 2 warrant some serious consideration in the African American community. When the Fred Douglass emails come around this year I will reply-all with your astute suggestions regarding July 2 -- maybe we can make some moves on this. As for Juneteenth I do not think I will ever understand how Texas could hold slaves for 2 plus years beyond the EP. Its mind-boggling to me and somehow ultimately does underscore the passivity of history. So I guess Juneteenth isn't my thing either, but since I am so rarely in agreement with you I wanted to take this moment to show some solidarity with you good brother. -
Posted By:
Elliemae at 06/20/2008 10:36:33 AM
Comment:
CLEARLY, MR. McWHORTER, IF THE SLAVES HAD NEVER BEEN EMANCIPATED, THERE NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN A NEED FOR OR THE POSSIBILITY OF CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION. IT'S A QUESTION OF NECESSARY PRECONDITIONS AND THE INABILITY OF HUMAN BEINGS TO CONTROL EVERYTHING THEY INITIATE. IF THE ABOLITIONISTS (BLACK AS WELL AS WHITE), LINCOLN, AND THE SLAVES WHO REVOLTED HAD BEEN OMNISCIENT, THERE WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ANY "BLACK BOY" OR "MANCHILD" SYNDROMES OR A NEED FOR CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION. LET'S CONSIDER THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCES. YOU SHOULD START THINKING BEFORE YOU SPEAK. -
Posted By:
asee3 at 06/20/2008 9:49:15 AM
Comment:
go head boy that's the most non-sellout thing i have seen you write here at the Root -
Posted By:
rsinger40 at 06/20/2008 8:26:22 AM
Comment:
I suggest you read Steven Hahn's A Nation Under Our Feet to understand more fully how the Abolitionism, Civil War, Emancipation and the Reconstruction Amendments could not have happened without us. We believe that these movements, events and historical shifts were the result of white efforts because that is what history lessons have traditionally taught us. But historians researching in recent years have not only uncovered political agency of African Americans, but have righted much of the mythology to indicate that we were the initiators and core of these movements, events and historical shifts. It is now a matter of rewriting the mythology out of our historical understanding of our emancipation as a people.-
Posted By:
miste315 at 06/23/2008 6:52:16 PM
Comment:
"Somebody -- Please educate him!" He seems a little ignorant if not hateful of where he comes from!
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Posted By:
Mecca4BA at 06/20/2008 4:47:38 AM
Comment:
This can be argued in so many ways. Truth of the matter is, We're still not there. Here it is 2008, the first African-American is about to take the hightest office in the United States and just look at all of the crap that's been going on here. When will we all get tired of the skin color issues, the cultural differences, and the religeous diversity of our world? Why can't it simply be looked at as....
We All Bleed Red!
Most of the conflicts across the globe has something to do with dumb ass issues like race.
I do agree with celebrating Juneteenth, and I also believe in celebrating July 2nd. And guess what? We're going to have another Holiday to celebrate in November and again one more in January 2009.
and THAT's what's up! -
Posted By:
Darryl Cox at 06/20/2008 2:05:14 AM
Comment:
John ,
It is okay if you don't want to celebrate Juneteenth. I was born in the Bay Area and I can't remember a time when blacks there, many of whom had come from Texas and other parts of the southwest, did not celebrate Juneteenth. To be frank, Juneteenth is not part of your cultural legacy as an African American. Find another day to celebrate the end of slavery or don't celebrate any day at all. We won't find fault with you. For African Americans living on the west coast Juneteenth is a day that we celebrate. I will eat a slice of watermelon and drink a red soda water in your honor. Go easy, my brother, and if you can't go easy then go as easy as you can.-
Posted By:
Mecca4BA at 06/20/2008 4:49:22 AM
Comment:
Truthfully, it really shouldn't matter. Celebrate both days... I'm looking forward to the next two holidays in November this year and January 09. I won't be going to work on either day.
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Posted By:
princez3002 at 06/19/2008 11:13:24 PM
Comment:
Oh, I see, so don't celebrate a day in which whites helped blacks along a hard road to freedom...by all means, don't celebrate any of the few good things whites did for blacks in the history of the nation...and finally, don't acknowledge the few whites who were wiling to put their lives on the line for blacks. Let's just dismiss all white people who ever cared to help black people, because, after all, white people just suck in general, right? God forbid, we forget that it takes cooperation--that is, whites and blacks TOGETHER--to get things done. And, of course, let's forget about all the white people who voted for Barack Obama, seeing as, like it or not, they are still the majority of the population in the U.S. That is to say, a minority of the population--thirteen percent--did it all on their own. What a great attitude. -
Posted By:
ediaal at 06/19/2008 9:38:18 PM
Comment:
Alright, Pastor C. well said.
Elaine from Texas -
Posted By:
merry1951 at 06/19/2008 9:23:46 PM
Comment:
Yes whites and blacks worked together in ending slavery. While it is easy to condem white people for slavery, it is my understanding that most blacks were sold into slavery originally by other blacks. Namely tribal chiefs and other tribes who captured people to be traded into slavery. Although it was horendous that white people participated in this, they couldn't have done it without the co-operation of other black peple. Nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface. -
Posted By:
revspcourt at 06/19/2008 8:32:40 PM
Comment:
Mr. McWhorter, perhaps you have succeded in your effort to draw readers into your article, for that I applaud you. However the compliments will end there because your opinion and your perception of Juneteenth are both unacceptable. As stated in earlier comments, the emancipation of slaves is not about who freed them, but rather the fact that they deserved to be free. Imagine if you were one of the many black men in prison today and after 30 years you were set free. Your family decided to celebrate your freedom but the neighbors asked why are you celebrating? Why celebrate him getting out of jail, he doesn't have a job, he doesn't have education and he has no future. I am sure your family response would be, we celebrate because our son was locked up, and now he is free. We celebrate that his bondage is in his past, what happens tomorrow is only possible because of what happened yesterday. The Civil Rights Act, became a reality because of the Emancipation Proclamation. I hope you will celebrate any and all of the accomplishments of our nation, because as Americans celebrating our past accomplishments gives us hope that we will overcome our current and future trials.
Be blessed..Pastor C. -
Posted By:
shawnbd at 06/19/2008 8:09:27 PM
Comment:
Because I was not brought up with full knowledge of my own history much less, true black history outside of slavery and civil rights and the "great white hope" Abe Lincoln - I can read the stories written by Mr. McWhorter and so many others and learn bits and pieces. The comments made on this story are also EQUALLY educational, and I am thankful. I am a 34 year old black woman who is learning more and more everyday of the things that I have to teach my children of their history. All of you beautiful, brilliant, black people keep writing your stories, comments, forums, blogs - it is ALL very helpful information. Thank you. -
Posted By:
jericho4119 at 06/19/2008 6:49:30 PM
Comment:
This may come as a surprise, but John Hamilton McWhorter is wrong. Again. With his typical slurring of fact, he posits that Juneteenth is solely the result of action by white people and then slyly pretends that the act of signing a bill - voted on by exactly zero black politicians and signed into law by one more white man - was an act done by black people.
Perhaps because of too much time spent hanging out with his compatriots at the Manhattan Institute it is easy for McWhorter to ignore Douglass and Truth and Tubman and the countless of African-Americans who fought for freedom for themselves and their people. Black people fought for our freedom from the day we arrived ashore in this land back in 1619 and we continue that fight right through to today, as even though we no longer sport chains, we still bear the effects of 400-hundred years of oppression. And guess what? Minutes after Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of these United States of America, black people will still be fighting for our freedom as that is our right. Someone as privileged as McWhorter is too far removed from that fight to realize that people have only those rights which they can defend. When push comes to shove, McWhorter relies on others to fight for him, so he cannot see the fight unless it relates to something directly in front of him.
Juneteenth is the culmination of the first phase of our struggle for freedom in this land and though McWhorter is loath to commemorate a day that represents anything less than complete and total victory, Africans of good conscience across this nation and around the world should take comfort in the fact that we belong to a people who have always fought for our rights; we did back then and we won and we do today and we will win now too.
Derrick Nijel Gibson-
Posted By:
miste315 at 06/23/2008 7:10:44 PM
Comment:
Spoken like a truly educated and eloquent individual. I thoroughly enjoyed your post. You highlighted all the right reasons to celebrate this event in our history. It is ashame that there are those who have not afforded themselves to be enriched in stories of struggles and the demonization of the African American Experience in this country. McWhorter's review is the same typical "Get over yourselves, there is no racism" ultra-conservative rhetoric that only serves the plutocracy that rules this country and the world.
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Posted By:
kdberr1 at 06/19/2008 5:12:58 PM
Comment:
I can't believe this, I actually agree with John McWhorter. I am puzzled by the Juneteenth celebrations. I think that it was terrible that there were black people who believed they were still enslaved after everyone else had been given their freedom. I feel as if they were gypped! What's to celebrate with that? It wouldn't bother me if there were no Juneteenth observances but if people insist, it should be a solemn occasion. -
Posted By:
Julie8Leonard at 06/19/2008 4:50:16 PM
Comment:
Thank you for bringing the fact that whites helped to both emancipate blacks and helped us to gain our civil rights to the forefront...Thank God for them and Thank God for pricking their consciences!!!!! I am convinced that only a unified people will move forward! -
Posted By:
Julie8Leonard at 06/19/2008 4:38:29 PM
Comment:
I fully agree with Mr. Mcwhorter...We were some celebrating people in Miami, FL., where I grew up, but I had not heard of Junteenth...in fact I didn't hear of it until moving to Denver, CO., after having lived in Los Angeles, CA., for seven years!!!! Let Texans (which is where I now reside) rejoice in their Juneteenth emancipation, but demanding to be treated like the human beings we are (CIVIL RIGHTS), speaks volumes!!!!!! -
Posted By:
Freedom_Jury at 06/19/2008 4:36:45 PM
Comment:
...SEPTEMBER 3.
Why not celebrate the day that Frederich Douglass rode the train to his freedom? That was essentially his birth as a free man, because his birthday is unknown. ...And what better, more American thing to celebrate: freedom of choice. Every American worth being called such (ie: libertarians, anarcho-capitalists, individualists, abolitionists) can salute the spirit of such an accomplishment. Moreover, there is not collectivist and un-American baggage with celebrating that day, and it is not a remembrance of death, but of LIFE.
I've always wanted a holiday for Frederick Douglass, Lysander Spooner, HD Thoreau, Ayn Rand --American individualists. But American government always honors those who reach the greatest masses, not those with the best ideas...
From Wikipedia:
From slavery to freedom
Douglass first unsuccessfully tried to escape from Mr. Freeman, who hired him out from his owner, Colonel Lloyd. In 1836, he tried to escape from his new owner, Covey, but failed again.
On September 3, 1838, Douglass successfully escaped by boarding a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland, dressed in a sailor's uniform and carrying identification papers provided by a free black seaman. He crossed the Susquehanna River by ferry at Havre de Grace, then continued by train to Wilmington, Delaware. From there he went by steamboat to "Quaker City" ??? Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ??? and eventually reached New York; the whole journey took less than 24 hours.
---Nothing is more beautiful than that "Midnight Express". And think of the joy that he felt, taking charge of his own destiny, freeing himself, and then going on to champion the freedom that we all now enjoy. (Unless we live in the inner cities where our right to self-defense is banned, and we are therefore subservient under the law to those who live outside the cities.) -
Posted By:
cancan at 06/19/2008 4:19:32 PM
Comment:
Celebrate! Celebrate! If for no other reasons than that this is a traditional celebration by slaves who were happy to be emancipated, that the celebration has expanded across the states because it resonates with Black people, that we should celebrate and break bread together whenever we can. -
Posted By:
bigtexun at 06/19/2008 2:48:46 PM
Comment:
Mr. McWhorter needs to take a "chill pill". He bores me to death with his regurgitation of history but he fails to recognize the importance of the idea of Juneteenth. Everything he says in his article is true but Juneteenth is the first day that slavery officially ended. Juneteenth represents the beginning of the end of treating black people like livestock and a baby step in the direction of gaining our citizenship and civil rights. It is okay to celebrate the promise of the future and the end of the nightmare.
Mr. McWhorter talks about the role of "white people" and abolitionists in gaining the freedom of African Americans. He discusses the fact that we did not free ourselves independently but with significant assistance from other factions of our society. He chooses to recognize July 2, 1964 as his date of celebration because of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Did we independently create, ratify and sign this legislation into law? NO! Like the Emancipation Proclamation and every law or event that helped us to enjoy more rights as citizens there were other people involved in the process.
Maybe we should rethink "Juneteenth". Instead of just celebrating the end of slavery; let's celebrate the beginning of the end of Jim Crow Laws, the eventual elimination of the influence of the KKK, gaining access to the right to vote and the impending election of Barack Hussein Obama as the first African-American president of our nation. We should also pay homage to those persons who assisted us along this journey because without the combined efforts of everyone; we may not have a Juneteenth or July 2 to celebrate.
Like John McWhorter, I am proud of the accomplishments of African-Americans during my lifetime. It is great to acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans in business, politics, entertainment and medicine. McWhorter should also realize that these accomplishments in our recent history would have been extremely difficult without the sacrifice of those who preceded us, like his great-great-grandfather. It is disrespectful to the memory of those who came before us to discount the value of their contribution to our present day success.
John McWhorter thinks too much about the wrong thing. He has the right to not celebrate Juneteenth but he does not have the right to rain on our Junetenth parade.
Mr. McWhorter, you can have your parade of one on July 2 but I choose to celebrate June 19 with the rest of my brothers and sisters -
Posted By:
bigtexun at 06/19/2008 2:47:29 PM
Comment:
John McWhorter needs to take a "chill pill". He bores me to death with his regurgitation of history but he fails to recognize the importance of the idea of Juneteenth. Everything he says in his article is true but Juneteenth is the first day that slavery officially ended. Juneteenth represents the beginning of the end of treating black people like livestock and a baby step in the direction of gaining our citizenship and civil rights. It is okay to celebrate the promise of the future and the end of the nightmare.
Mr. McWhorter talks about the role of "white people" and abolitionists in gaining the freedom of African Americans. He discusses the fact that we did not free ourselves independently but with significant assistance from other factions of our society. He chooses to recognize July 2, 1964 as his date of celebration because of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Did we independently create, ratify and sign this legislation into law? NO! Like the Emancipation Proclamation and every law or event that helped us to enjoy more rights as citizens there were other people involved in the process.
Maybe we should rethink "Juneteenth". Instead of just celebrating the end of slavery; let's celebrate the beginning of the end of Jim Crow Laws, the eventual elimination of the influence of the KKK, gaining access to the right to vote and the impending election of Barack Hussein Obama as the first African-American president of our nation. We should also pay homage to those persons who assisted us along this journey because without the combined efforts of everyone; we may not have a Juneteenth or July 2 to celebrate.
Like John McWhorter, I am proud of the accomplishments of African-Americans during my lifetime. It is great to acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans in business, politics, entertainment and medicine. McWhorter should also realize that these accomplishments in our recent history would have been extremely difficult without the sacrifice of those who preceded us, like his great-great-grandfather. It is disrespectful to the memory of those who came before us to discount the value of their contribution to our present day success.
John McWhorter thinks too much about the wrong thing. He has the right to not celebrate Juneteenth but he does not have the right to rain on our Junetenth parade.
Mr. McWhorter, you can have your parade of one on July 2 but I choose to celebrate June 19 with the rest of my brothers and sisters -
Posted By:
Rose James at 06/19/2008 2:04:33 PM
Comment:
The day of celebration is not as important as the celebration itself..celebrate freedom on anyday, and its still a celebration. Just celebrate it!!! -
Posted By:
mj713 at 06/19/2008 1:58:03 PM
Comment:
Great article...it's refreshing that an author at this publication acknowledges that a lot of white people did a lot of work to free the slaves. That fact gets lost in a lot of shuffles...
I fully agree that July 2nd has much more significance than June 19. I will say this though: while it is important to celebrate each group's individual accomplishments and breakthroughs, I think the comment two below me brings up an important issue--blacks feeling as though July 4 "doesnt apply" because they were slaves at the time. I have heard this rationale before and this exemplifies all that is wrong with American race relations today. July 4 did not free black slaves, (or, uh, women of any race, who were not at ALL free in their own right), but it paved the way for a society that eventually did do away with all forms of state-sponsored discrimination (which is rampant across the globe, though black Americans choose to ignore this a lot and act as though they have it the roughest--FAR from). If July 4 hadn't happened, there wouldnt be a Root Magazine, there wouldnt be an NAACP, any of that. So yes, blacks have quite the reason to celebrate on July 4, as all the rest of us do. -
Posted By:
mgrabert at 06/19/2008 1:45:23 PM
Comment:
Maybe we need to encourage white people to participate and celebrate the emancipation of their minds, which enabled them to overcome the lure of economic benefit and choose moral and ethical benefit in its place. Thanks for raising my level of thought on the issue. I will celebrate Juneteenth now as a commemoraion of my ancestral community moving beyond selfish motives to more righteous ones. It is something we should all celebrate together because even though jews did not release themselves from concentration camps their situation forced all good men to rethink the nature of our collective roles on this earth. -
Posted By:
dmartin at 06/19/2008 1:42:15 PM
Comment:
Any degree ot emancipation or freedom, regardless who was responsible, is reason to celebrate. It is what it is. This is the same reasoning that some poeple feel about July 4- that it is not a holiday for blacks to celebrate, because it did not free blacks. But blacks faught in the revolution, and so we owe it to the men who endured it to honor them as well. -
Posted By:
reddhen at 06/19/2008 1:28:33 PM
Comment:
My Juneteenth celebration includes everybody. One of my co-workers who happens to be white was born on juneteenth and he says it is the first holiday he was aware of as a young kid. He thought eveyones birthday was celebrated with parades and picnics and red soda. Maybe its just a texas thing, but there are always white folks at juneteenth and they are welcome. Juneteeth is what you make it, if you make it exclusionary then it will be, I'm the only black person at work and they all know i'm not working today and why and they always whish me happy juneteenth and then they come over to my house and celebrate with me without any guilt. For those of you who dont celebrate thats cool more red soda and potatoe salad and reflection for the rest of us who do. -
Posted By:
OldSoul at 06/19/2008 1:17:54 PM
Comment:
As a white person originally from the south, I would like to endorse Mr. McWhorter's statement that "Freedom happened partly as the result of whites making other whites see the error of their ways." Andersonville National Cemetery and Civil War Prison is full of the graves of 13,000 white men who died there. They died in the fight to end slavery and preserve the union. No slave ever lived and died in more deplorable conditions than did those Andersonville prisoners. Nor was their fate a quick and merciful bullet on the battlefield as they, too, fought against the detested Condederate flag.
Stand among their graves and say thanks.
As important as Mr. King and other well known leaders were in the civil rights movement, I would also like to see the small unsung heroes of that era given more credit. There were the teenagers who volunteered to be the first black kids to come to my high school. They were truly brave. As a teenaged waitress, I saw the first black person walk into the dining room of the local eatery. Martin Luther King's birthday should be a day to celebrate ALL those black citizens who first took those "one small step for man" actions, lest subsequent generations take for granted what some of their ancestors did to change their world. Marching was easy compared to those brave stands.
Seek them out and record their stories, for my generation is going fast.-
Posted By:
professorjdh at 06/19/2008 1:35:35 PM
Comment:
Old Soul and the rest, as was stated in my first comment. Let's get history right first. The Civil war was fought because of State Rights vs Federal Rights, not slavery alone.-
Posted By:
Robin08 at 06/19/2008 5:42:24 PM
Comment:
professorjdh --
What you say is true, but slavery was at "TheRoot" of the conflict and is the reason the issue was framed in terms of "state's rights." The origin of so-called state's rights rests largely in the South's effort to keep the federal government out of their business. The primary business they were determined to protect was slavery and all the wealth they could derive from institutionalized free labor. That's how we come to this concept of state's rights. They were fighting for the state's so-called right to maintain the institution of slavery without any interference from the federal government, because this a "state right" -- the feds have no authority over a "state right." You feel me?
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