OPINION —
I enjoyed being in Atlanta in January 1986 covering the first official MLK Day parade. I was afraid the new holiday would become just an excuse for people to relax and have fun all day. I didn’t want Dr. King to have died at age 39 only to have most Americans not even spend a half hour thinking about him. My fears have come true, based on my observations of the King holiday for 37 years.
We just celebrated Juneteenth as a national holiday for only the third year. Honoring this holiday denoting the end to slavery in the U.S. shows signs of drifting away. At least in 1986, people did not have computers and other electronic devices of today to divert them. Luckily, an associate professor of history at Auburn University is more optimistic than I am.
“Historians aren’t great at predicting the future, but I actually think there’s enough precedent here to suggest that this will continue to be a day that celebrates both the end of enslavement and the arrival of freedom,” said Elijah Gaddis, a scholar in African American history.
He continued: “I don’t expect that people will spend the day reading about Emancipation (I wish they would.) but I do think people will gather with family and friends, go to churches or parades or cookouts, and generally be in community with one another. That to me seems like a good reflection of freedom.”
Kenneth Davis is a popular writer in U.S. history, known for books “Don’t Know Much About History” and “Don’t Know Much about the Civil War.” Davis notes that the demise of slavery was perhaps the most significant event in American history after the nation’s independence itself.
“For centuries, slavery was the dark stain on America’s soul, the deep contradiction to the nation’s founding ideals of ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ and ‘All men are created equal,’” explained Davis. “When Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Jan. 1, 1863, he took a huge step toward erasing that stain. But his proclamation would not be realized until June 19, 1865 — Juneteenth, as called by slaves in Texas freed that day.”
Not only the national holiday Juneteenth, but at least two state holidays have their opponents. Cesar Chavez was a leading civil rights activist in California. He co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which was a forerunner of the United Farm Workers. This grew into a powerful union in the 1950s through 1970s.
Chavez’s birthday, March 31, is a holiday in California and Texas. Citizens who disliked Chavez’s leftist politics were not happy he had a holiday granted in his name. Despite it not being a federal holiday, March 31 was proclaimed “Cesar Chavez Day” in the U.S. by President Barack Obama. Yet foes of Chavez and agricultural unions didn’t participate.
Harvey Milk was a leading figure in promoting gay rights in 1970s San Francisco. He eventually became a city supervisor, and the first openly gay person elected to public office in California. After he was assassinated in the city hall by an ex-city supervisor in 1978, the state began to celebrate him each May.
California established Harvey Milk Day as a Day of Special Significance in which public schools must teach how to stop discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community. Having such a day as a tribute to Milk brought antagonists as it was being debated. Yet it was approved, as the holiday for Juneteenth was. But why so long for Juneteenth to become a national holiday?
“There are several reasons for the delay in getting Juneteenth as a holiday,” Gaddis said. “The most simple reason is that Juneteenth has not been universally celebrated until quite recently. For many years, places had their own individual Emancipation Day celebrations that represented the time when most enslaved people learned about their official freedom.
“More broadly, I would say it’s about resistance to change. That’s not a negative thing: Traditions take time to get established and become first widely recognized, and then official. Governments tend to come late in the game and following the will of the people.”
In 1977, I was an intern at the Rhode Island State House and noticed an interesting exchange. Several House members, all Irish, said to the speaker, “Don’t forget that the House will not meet on March 17, for that is St. Patrick’s Day.” He responded: “Of course, we already made the change on the daily schedule.”
Some legislators, mostly Italians, reminded the Speaker: “We should cancel House plans on St. Joseph’s Day, too; it’s that same week.” (St. Joseph is a patron saint of workers and is associated with feast days.) I remember this 1970s discussion because it shows people valued holidays then — for all the right reasons.
Greg Markley moved to Lee County in 1996. He has a master’s degree in education from AUM and a master’s degree in history from Auburn University. He taught politics as an adjunct in Georgia and Alabama. An award-winning writer in the Army and civilian life, he has contributed to The Observer since 2011. gm.markley@charter.net