As I sit here pondering the Fourth of July and what it means to most Americans, including black Americans, I think it is sad that Juneteenth, a holiday so very important to African Americans, is not required to be taught as part of American history. It is important that white America and especially black America know why Juneteenth is more important to black Americans than July 4.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on June 19 in the United States. It commemorates the official end of slavery. The holiday originated in Galveston, Texas.

For more than a century, Texas was the primary home of Juneteenth celebrations. More recently, however, its observance has spread across the nation and even to Maine, the whitest state in America.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect on Jan. 1, 1863, it had little immediate effect on most slaves’ day-to-day lives, particularly in Texas, which was almost entirely under Confederate control. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union Gen. Gordon Granger and 2,000 Federal troops arrived on Galveston Island to take possession of the state and enforce slaves’ new freedoms.

On that day, Granger read the contents of “General Order No. 3,” which stated to the people of Texas in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the United States that all slaves are free.

Both black and white citizens with their families are invited to join in a celebration of Juneteenth at noon Monday, June 19 at Chamberlain Freedom Park in Brewer and the site of the Underground Railroad statue of a slave emerging from a tunnel to freedom.

James Varner

President

Greater Bangor Area NAACP

Old Town