"A Little Truth On Juneteenth..."

Juneteenth, which was celebrated originally almost exclusively by African American folks in Texas, commemorates word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally arriving in Galveston.  On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger proclaimed the freedom of all enslaved people there. At that time, 30 percent of the state’s population was enslaved, and, though the state no doubt knew slavery had ended, they wanted to get one last cotton harvest out of the slaves.   As President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation he said, "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right than I do in signing this paper." It was a historic moment, but, as Frederick Douglass pronounced, it was a "worthy celebration of the first step." One of our wisest citizens, Douglass recognized that simply ending chattel slavery would not restore all that had been taken from the millions of souls whose ancestors had been forcibly kidnapped, transported across the ocean, and enslaved. I read a research article last week that suggested what I had learned about slavery in school was wrong. I learned 12.5 million Africans were loaded onto ships and 10-15 percent of those men, women, and children died during the middle passage to America. The article, however, suggests the numbers were much higher and as many as 30-50 million souls died because of slavery.  Of course, because of recent legislation in our state and other former Confederate states, students will not learn that. Perhaps the largest holocaust-al genocide in human history will continue to be covered up lest the truth make white people feel uncomfortable.

Blessings,

Rev. Dr. Michael Piazza Rev. Piazza is a nationally-known author, activist, and church growth consultant. He is the founder and president of Agile Church Consulting and the senior pastor of Arlington Congregational Church in Jacksonville, Florida. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.