What is Juneteenth and Why Do We Celebrate?

Juneteenth isn’t just a date; it’s a lesson about how freedom can be promised on paper and still withheld in practice. I’m joined by Clint Smith, the New York Times bestselling author of *How the Word Is Passed* and a staff writer at The Atlantic, to trace why so many Americans grew up barely hearing about Juneteenth and what changes when we finally tell the story plainly.

We walk through the history that made Juneteenth necessary: the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the end of the Civil War in 1865, and the reality that enslaved people in Texas often did not learn they were free until Union troops arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865. Clint explains how this wasn’t simply a communication delay. In many cases, freedom was deliberately kept quiet so enslavers could keep extracting labor, a detail that reshapes how we think about emancipation, historical memory, and the ongoing fight to teach accurate Black history.

From there, we dig into “reflective patriotism” and Clint’s idea of America as “both and” a country capable of remarkable opportunity and profound injustice. Juneteenth holds that tension: celebration for liberation and mourning for the lives consumed by slavery and by delayed freedom. We also talk about what it looks like to commemorate Juneteenth beyond a single day, how to resist turning it into a product, and where to start learning, including Annette Gordon-Reed’s work and accessible resources like Crash Course Black American History.

If you care about civic education, American history, and the power of honest storytelling, listen through and share this conversation with someone you want to learn alongside. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what should Juneteenth ask of all of us today?

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Transcript

Welcome And Why Juneteenth Matters

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome back to Civics in Year. Today I am so honored to be joined by Clint Smith, the number one New York Times bestselling author of How the Word is Passed, Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. The book won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. It was named one of the New York Times best books of 2021. Clint is also the author of best-selling poetry collection, Above Ground, and award-winning Counting Descent. In addition to his writing, he's a staff writer at The Atlantic, where his work explores history, memory, education, and the ways the past continues to shape American life today. In today's episode, we are going to be talking about Juneteenth, historical memory, and what it means to reckon honestly with the American story. Clint, thank you so much for joining us on Civics in a year.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

So in your work, you often connect history to memory and storytelling. Why do you think Juneteenth remained unknown to so many Americans for so long? And what changes when we start to tell these stories more publicly?

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Yeah, I think there are a couple of reasons why Juneteenth wasn't known to many people. I think in part because it began as a uniquely Texas tradition and a uniquely Black American Texas tradition. And so the history of Juneteenth is that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed January 1st, 1863, and that ostensibly freed all the enslaved people in the Confederate states. But obviously, Union soldiers could only enforce that if they were had sort of conquered the territory and defeated Confederate soldiers in these various states across the South. And so they had not yet made their way to Texas or had not yet fully taken over Texas in various parts of Texas. And so word often had not even reached Texas that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. And if it had reached Texas,

How Freedom Was Delayed In Texas

SPEAKER_00 2:10

it had not necessarily reached the enslaved people of Texas. And often you hear these stories of enslavers who who were made aware of the fact that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. And even two years after that, that General Lee of the Confederacy had surrendered at Appomattox, effectively ending the Civil War. But both in the context of the Emancipation Proclamation and in the context of the end of the war at Appomattox, that information was purposefully kept on many occasions from enslaved black people so that these enslavers could continue to exploit their labor, could continue to keep them functionally enslaved even after slavery had essentially been been nullified. And so this tradition, you know, as as Union troops moved into Texas in on June 19th, 1865, Gordon Granger, who was the general of the of the Union Army in that location, he communicated to, you know, the 250,000 enslaved black people in Texas that in fact you are free. And this spread across the state, not necessarily on a on a single day. It wasn't the case that on June 19th, every single enslaved person in Texas knew they were knew they were free. This it had to pass from plantation to plantation, from mouth to mouth, from ear to ear. But but June, it you know, there began to be these celebrations in Texas of this day that that Gordon Granger made this announcement, made this proclamation, gave his general order, and that became a uniquely Texas tradition. And then as black people from Texas moved to different places across the country, that tradition, that Juneteenth tradition, spread with them. And into the 20th century, it sort of ebbed and flowed. There was some places where it was celebrated very robustly, and some places where it wasn't. But it in the 1970s, Texas legislator made it a or advocated for the for Juneteenth to become a state holiday. And that brought more attention to it on a on a s in a state-sanctioned way. And and ultimately got it sort of gained traction county by county, state by state. And then on the other side is the fact that uh so much black history, as we know, and as your podcast so so beautifully and powerfully describes, has been kept from us. And there has often been an intentional effort to erase, to sidestep, to misremember the history of Black life and specifically as it relates to slavery and emancipation, in order to because if because there's an understanding that if you prevent people from understanding the history of this country, then you can further legitimize the sort of contemporary landscape of inequality because people are not then able to fully draw the connections between things that have happened in the past and the manifestations of those past actions in the present.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

And I'm glad you brought that up. One of my favorite words that I have learned is something called reflective patriotism, right? Celebrating our country, but also understanding that it is not this perfect thing. And that's why the founders utilize the word more perfect. They've never said perfect. So Juneteenth is you, as you said, is both the celebration, but also a reminder of delayed freedom. What can people learn from that tension between the promise of liberty and the reality

Reflective Patriotism And The Both And

SPEAKER_01 6:20

of how long it took to reach everyone? I think students might be listening to this and thinking, you know, we get information so fast now. But this information took years to really get to the country. How do we kind of learn from that tension?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

I mean, I'm so glad you framed it that way. And that's it. I mean, that's the thing is America is a place that has provided unparalleled, unimaginable opportunities for millions of people across generations in ways that their own ancestors could have never imagined. It has also done so at the direct expense of millions and millions of other people who have been intergenerationally subjugated and oppressed. And both of those things are the story of America. It's not one over here or one over there. You get to pick this one and not pick that one. Both of those things are the story of this country. And, you know, it's it's I I talk to students and teachers all the time, and and the way that I say it is like, you know, I'm a person who's done things in my life that I am proud of, and have also done things in my life that I'm not proud of because I'm human and I make mistakes. And the type of person that I try to be in the world, and the way I try to raise my children, and the way I try to be in community with friends and neighbors and loved ones, is not to pretend as if I've never made a mistake. It's not to ignore those mistakes, it's not to sidestep them, it's to confront them, to acknowledge them, and to learn from them so that I don't make those same mistakes in the future. And so if that's the standard I hold myself to, if that's the standard I hold my children to, why would that not be the same standard I hold this country to? Right? Why would we not understand the both-andedness of who we are as a country in the same way we understand the both-andedness of ourselves? And I think Juneteenth in so many ways is is a perfect microcosm of that both-andedness because it is both this incredible moment to celebrate the freedom of millions of enslaved people. 250-some odd years of slavery. Slavery existed more in the for longer in this country than it hasn't. And so it is it is so essential for us to lift up that history and to celebrate it and for it to be uh a moment, a day of of jubilation and celebration. And simultaneously, it is a day of mourning. It is a day to reflect on the millions of enslaved people who fought for a freedom they never got a chance to see. It is a moment to to think about how uh violent and insidious it was for not only people to participate in slavery, but to then keep information of one's freedom from enslaved people. Like there were people who were free, who died not knowing that they had been freed. And so when we think about Juneteenth, we have to hold all that is worthy of celebration and all that is worthy of mourning. When we think about this country that we live in and that we love, we think about all that is worthy of celebration and all that is worthy of mourning. And and I think that that is that shouldn't be an ideological notion. It shouldn't be a political contention. It's it's one that is reflective of what it means to be human, of what it means to be American. And I think young people understand that intuitively, it's it's us grown-ups that come and mess it up for them because we're so caught up in our own ideological predispositions that we we we go back and misrepresent and often misunderstand for ourselves what this what this history means.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

So you've written about the importance of place and historical memory. And I think that's how I connected so much with how the word has passed as you take us on these journeys to these places. How should communities think about commemorating Juneteenth in ways that go beyond this single day celebration and really help people engage more deeply with this big American history?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

So Juneteenth has been national holiday for a few years now. And there are some people who have concerns that it may become commodified and rendered a sort of product of capitalism in the way that some other American holidays have been. You can come get your, you know, used car for 25% off on Juneteenth Day, or you can, you know, here's a special, you know, Juneteenth

Beyond A Holiday Toward Real Commemoration

SPEAKER_00 11:20

menu at the at the Delhi. You know, it's there's all sorts of ways in which every holiday can become monetized, commodified, and made to serve the the sort of whims of of capitalism broadly defined. But I think that Juneteenth becoming a national holiday is such an important moment. And I will the first thing I think about when I think about that is the decades and decades of activism that it took from black Texans in particular, who have been celebrating this in their churches, in their neighborhoods, in their homes for generations, and who have recognized the importance of there being a day to celebrate the emancipation of slavery. There's no other day on the American calendar where we collectively celebrate the abolition of one of the worst things that certainly in our history, but in in world history that have ever been done. And so just simpl simply for that fact alone, I also think it's worthy of being lifted up because it reflects the intergenerational tenacity and uh ongoing commitment and resilience of people who who were fighting to make us cognizant of this history, even when so few people wanted to pay attention to it, especially outside of the black community. I think that I think about all the time is how the first enslaved people came to the British colonies that would become the United States in 1619. And the Emancipation Proclamation was not signed until 1863, Civil War didn't end until 1865. But from the moment enslaved people arrived on these shores, they were fighting for freedom, they were fighting for liberation, they were fighting for emancipation. What that also means is that the vast majority of people who fought for freedom never got a chance to experience it for themselves. But they fought for it anyway, because they knew that someday someone would. And I always think about how my life is only possible, how my children's lives are only possible, because of generations of people who fought for something they knew they might never see, but who fought for it anyway, because they knew that someday someone would. And I think about what sort of responsibility does that bestow upon me, does that bestow upon all of us to attempt to build the sort of world that we might not see ourselves, but to try to build it anyway, because we know that someday someone will. And it's all it's almost like we're all chipping away at this wall. And you don't know if the wall is six inches thick or six thousand miles thick. But what you know is that the more you chip away at it, the less the people who come after you will have to chip away at. And I think that that's what keeps me going. That's what again, that's that for me, that is that is the Juneteenth tradition. The Juneteenth tradition is this recognition that Juneteenth exists because of generations of people who fought to make that moment of abolition possible. Right? It wasn't just Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation, it was generations and generations of black Americans and some white Americans who worked in order to make it so that this country had to fully confront what it had done to millions and millions of black people. And it is this moment to recognize that there is a tradition that created Juneteenth, and then there's a tradition that is built upon Juneteenth. And we are part of that tradition that is building on that that history, and it and it is our responsibility to do what the generations who preceded 1865 did in order to get where we need to go. And to accept, again, that we might not see it. And it can be hard, especially in in really in political moments that are rife with despair, to to feel sometimes you feel like things aren't moving, and you can even feel like things are moving backwards. But if you just remember that like the only way we get to the other side of that wall is to chip away and chip away and chip away, the same way so many folks in this country have done for generations. That's the only way we get where where we need to go. And that's what was done for us. So that's what it's our job to do.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

And my last question for you if, you know, as again, you said this just became a national hall day and really on the front of people's minds recently. If I as a lifelong learner, as a student, want to learn a little bit more, where could I start? Where is like a good, besides listening to this podcast, if you're listening to this podcast, your access point is open.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

What are some other ways that people can just start to learn more about this history and this holiday?

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Annette Gordon Reed, who's a law professor at Harvard University and an incredible, incredible historian, and is probably the foremost scholar on Jefferson and his relationship to slavery, has an excellent book that came out a few years ago called Juneteenth, which sort of outlines both the political history and her own family's personal history as it relates to the holiday. And it's

Responsibility Across Generations And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 17:10

an excellent primer on what Juneteenth is and what it has meant to so many people. In my own book, How the Word Is Passed, I have a chapter about Juneteenth and the play, Galveston, Texas, where where Juneteenth was founded, which was so, you know, for me, I I the thing I love about books, and we were talking about this before the podcast started. Like books for me are what this podcast is for you. It's this excuse to learn and to teach ourselves, this history that that we didn't necessarily know. And so I feel so grateful to have been able to spend time with folks who are the descendants of those who were there when Gordon Granger made that announcement that all slaves were free. And it was so powerful to be in the room with them on that day, on that land, in that place. And I'll I'll think about that day and those conversations for the rest of my life. And and we're also fortunate that there are incredible online resources now. There are some incredible documentaries, I think some that have been produced by PBS. You can find all sorts of all sorts of examples on on YouTube. And if you're interested in the Black history more broadly, not to shamelessly plug my own stuff again, but I have a Please do. I have a podcast, or excuse me, uh I have a YouTube series called Crash Course Black American History, which is about 50 episodes going from 1619 to 2020 about the history of Black life in this country, meaningful moments, meaningful people, and also some people that that m aren't necessarily in the pantheon of Black life, both trying to lift up the stories of those who are on our proverbial realm Mount Rushmore, and also the stories of some ordinary folks who who have done extraordinary work.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

And every student listening to this went, Yep, I have seen a grimmage course. I know that. So, listeners, I will have all of this stuff linked in. And it's, I really do. And this is a wholehearted thing. If you look back at my Instagram in 2021, I posted about this book and talked about the storytelling. And again, I love that you took us on this journey with you. And it really made me as a learner and as an Arizonan who sometimes feels like this history is far removed, but it really isn't. It makes me really consider places I'm at and people who have been there and stories that I'm not hearing. So highly suggest this book. I cannot enough. And you said Dr. Annette Gordon Reed, her book, The Hemingses of Monticello, is absolutely one of my favorite books. She is incredible. I also want to say Isabel Wilkerson. She, her books, again, for me, Juneteenth is a time to unlearn a lot of things that I thought I knew, or, you know, I was told, and to really just dig into this. And I really appreciate too, Clint, that you talk about the human aspect, right? As humans, we make mistakes. America has made mistakes, but it's also done really good things. Both of those things can exist. And in this time of America 250 and reflective patriotism, having all of that is so important. Clint, I just can't thank you enough for being on our podcast, for sharing your work, for sharing your words with us on this holiday of Juneteenth.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

It's been a pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.