Smells Like 'Teenth Spirit
My mom and I had totally different experiences with race while growing up in Texas. What bonds us is the history behind our experiences. And it's this ambivalence that I think many African Americans feel in this country. It even applies to Juneteenth itself.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, it did so in a back-handed sort of way. Lincoln was pushing the Confederate states into a return-to-the-Union corner by taking away the Confederacy's main source of labor and subsistence.
Nevertheless, we were free. Free at last, free at last!
And that was cause for celebration. And that's what my mother did. In 1986, my mother was quoted in The Dallas Morning News while at a Juneteenth celebration:
Among [the attendees] was Elaine Evans who took a day off her job to celebrate. She sat outside the recreation center and bounced her 8-month-old daughter and talked about Juneteenth.
"It's very important just like we celebrate the Fourth of July. The oppression of a human is much more important than shooting off fireworks. My parents taught me, and my child will know. Erin will know," she said of the baby on her knee.
And now, I really do.
Erin Evans is chief copy editor and writer at The Root.
Also on The Root:
John McWhorter crosses Juneteenth off his calendar. Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs does the Juneteenth basics.
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Smells Like 'Teenth Spirit
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View All Comments »Lojo at 06/30/2008 1:54:18 PM
Comment:
Enter Your Comment was moved by your recouting of Hamilton Park, your mother and these Juneteenth memories. I was a product of Hamilton PArk, and I am instilling the same things in my daughter is 13, continuing the legacy. Having just participated in this years Hamilton PArk Celebrations, I was a proud member of the HP class of 1977 to celelbrate, to enjoy and share with my daughter and family.
Lojo at 06/30/2008 1:52:58 PM
Comment:
was moved by your recouting of Hamilton Park, your mother and these Juneteenth memories. I was a product of Hamilton PArk, and I am instilling the same things in my daughter is 13, continuing the legacy. Having just participated in this years Hamilton PArk Celebrations, I was a proud member of the HP class of 1977 to celelbrate, to enjoy and share with my daughter and family.
Lojo at 06/30/2008 1:51:13 PM
Comment:
I was moved by your recouting of Hamilton Park, your mother and these Juneteenth memories. I was a product of Hamilton PArk, and I am instilling the same things in my daughter is 13, continuing the legacy. Having just participated in this years Hamilton PArk Celebrations, I was a proud member of the HP class of 1977 to celelbrate, to enjoy and share with my daughter and family.