By Hilliard Lackey
Columnist
 
So-called Black Liberation Day is an official holiday in the State of Texas and is being celebrated in scattered black enclaves across America on and near the date of June 19 but not in Jackson, Miss. And other places where one would expect it to be observed.
 
Juneteenth is the name given to Black Liberation Day based on late-arriving news of their freedom to the last of slaves after the Civil War in Galveston, Texas, June 19, 1865.
 
Although the war ended on April 9, 1865 and although the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, slavery existed in Texas two and one half years illegally and for more than two months on general principal.
 
According to the Electric Village Juneteenth website, Major General Gordon Granger, accompanied by Union forces, announced to a gathering of former slave owners and slaves at Galveston, Texas, June 19,1865 that:
 
"The people of Texas are (hereby) informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive (President) of the United States, all slaves are free.  This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer."    
 
Historians debate to this day why slavery persisted in Texas for two and one half years after the Emancipation Proclamation and over two months after the Civil War. Some blame poor communication. Others claim power-hungry greed and rebellious stubbornness on the part of slave owners.  The debate continues.
 
The news spread like wildfire on June 19, 1865 and former slaves began celebrating their late-arriving freedom with "rodeos, barbecues," and ball games among numerous festive events. The tradition grew in Galveston and by 1900 posed a three-part question: "What day should blacks commemorate as liberation day? July 4, 1776? January 1, 1863? June 19, 1865? " 
 
Independence Day for the Untied States of America is July 4 but early Americans decided that blacks were only two-thirds of a person and should not be counted among free people.

The Emancipation Proclamation was a scare tactic by President Abraham Lincoln to frighten states rebelling against the Union to lay down their arms by January 1, 1863 or all slaves would be declared free. The South called Lincoln's bluff and kept on fighting. "Freed" slaves were free in name only. The June 19 or Juneteenth idea makes more sense to some blacks as Black Liberation Day.

No consensus has ever been reached despite surges of observances during peaks of black awareness such as the back to Africa movement and the civil rights movement.
 
The State of Texas made Juneteenth an official holiday in 1980. Other states have not followed suit. One glaring reason has been the lack of pressure by blacks in high places to make it so. No nationally known leader has pushed the idea in recent times. State and local black leaders have sidestepped the issue or viewed it a no issue at all.

For example, cities with black mayors or black majority population would seem ripe for Juneteenth celebrations.  The all-black town of Mound Bayou has not seen it plausible to observe Black Liberation Day according to the website. Nor has Mississippi's capitol city with its 77% majority black population.
 
Black elected officials tend to shy away from one-race sponsorships or promotions. The former mayor of Vicksburg endorsed a Juneteenth celebration just before the last election and was defeated at the polls. Some observers point to his race-based endorsement as a vote-draining gesture. 
 
They may have a point. Juneteenth is celebrated usually where a cluster of blacks organize outside of officialdom and petition for recognition.  This year, in Mississippi, Juneteenth website-noted events are in Meridian, Macon, Tupelo, Gulfport, Natchez, Columbia, and Grenada. Conspicuously absent are Jackson and Canton. 
 
The Juneteenth Website provides a map with locations and dates for observances this year. Not surprisingly, several Texas cities and large urban centers like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, DC and Los Angeles are sponsoring Black Liberation Day activities.
 
The Naked Truth: American holidays have long ceased to be "holy" days or days of remembrance, reflection and reverence. Instead, they are cluttered with irreverent moneymaking and mindless merry-making leaving their original meaning at the cash register. Black Liberation Day has of yet no commercial value to capitalists and therefore its sentimental value remains non-profitable. Translation: so far, nobody has devised away to make big bucks from Juneteenth.  Until someone does, the Fourth of July shall remain Independence Day for descendants of slave owners and descendants of slaves.
 
Dr. Hilliard Lackey is Senior Education Consultant for Young Sanford Marketing and Media Services, 3396 Park Avenue, Memphis, TN 38111. E-mail hlackey@bellsouth.net.