AS AMERICANS celebrate Juneteenth, it gives occasion to also reflect on the reasons and history of the celebration.

After the Northern US states defeated the slave-owning South in the US civil war, enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas, were told by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19 1865, that they were now free.

This was some two-and-a-half years after president Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

The declaration by Gen Granger bringing the Emancipation Proclamation into effect in the state of Texas is seen by many as the end of slavery in the US.

Juneteenth (a combination of June and 19th) was first recognised as a state holiday in Texas in 1980, and since then every US state has formally recognised Juneteenth as a state or ceremonial holiday. 

On hearing the announcement, the newly freed Africans no doubt started a spontaneous, joyous, celebration of their freedom, possibly throughout the night, if the celebrations in Guyana on August 1, recognised throughout the English-speaking Caribbean as the official Emancipation Day, is anything to go by.

Juneteenth is now celebrated in the US with parades, festivals and block parties where people gather to share food and play games. In some states public readings and singing, picnics and church services, rodeos, contests, concerts and parades are also organised.

However, the attempts to have Juneteenth declared a federal holiday were decades in the making.

In 2016, 89-year-old Opal Lee walked from Texas to Washington DC to raise awareness and encourage lawmakers. She walked 2.5 miles (4km) each day — representing the two-and-a-half years it took for enslaved people in Texas to learn they had been freed.

Barack Obama as senator of Illinois had co-sponsored legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday, but the law was never passed — even after he became president.

It took the Black Lives Matter protests around the world in the summer of 2020 to create the conditions for its passing. Leading up to June 19 2021, both chambers of the US Congress moved swiftly to pass the Bill, which became law with President Joe Biden finally signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing a holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the US.

As Juneteenth is celebrated, the more informed will spend time to also reflect on the heinous crime committed against their ancestors. The legacy of which they live with today, with widespread discrimination and mistreatment.

Much like the Windrush celebrations in Britain, we are meant to forget the 40 years of the mistreatment of Caribbean peoples with the “hostile environment” scandal, under the watch of Theresa May, who seems to be in denial about her actions.

Even as we are encouraged to celebrate Windrush Day in Britain, the mistreatment continues, as payouts are slowed and justice denied the victims of this shameful scandal. 

In the US some debate about the 40 acres and a mule promised to the former enslaved who fought with the northern army for their liberation continues. Some of the discussions have morphed into the Reparations for African Enslavement movement which has started to gain some worldwide traction. 

We need be aware that the ideology of racism developed to justify enslavement of Africans continues to take the lives of many black men in the US today.

Many who were killed by the police were unarmed, leading to calls to defund the police, who have their origins in the slave-catchers, deployed to apprehend runaway slaves in times past.

The ending of slavery did not do away with racism, and in the years after emancipation, so-called Jim Crow laws were created to separate black people from white society and limit their civil rights.

The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African-Americans at the hands of the police have spurred international anti-racism protests. The backlash comes in the form of “wokeness” that threatens to stifle debate.

It also comes as a cultural debate rages over the teaching of history about slavery, and how it should be taught in US schools, with the banning of books in some states, reminiscent of the McCarthy years.

As Americans party to celebrate Juneteenth it will be wise for them to also recognise that it is only by struggle any justice will be delivered.

African-Americans must never forget their history and join the worldwide movement to fight for Reparations for African Enslavement.

Luke Daniels is president of Caribbean Labour Solidarity.