Why Do We Celebrate Juneteenth? Columbians Share the History and How They Observe the Day

For many, especially in the southern United States and particularly in Texas, Juneteenth has been an emancipation celebration observed for generations. It commemorates the announcement of General Order No. 3, proclaiming freedom from slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865. That day was when every enslaved person in the U.S. finally knew that they were free and the institution came to an end.

It’s possible that you’re among the many people just coming to understand the holiday. Columbia invites you to dig into the history it honors and mark it in one way or another. This year, for the second time, the university will observe Juneteenth.

This Columbia mini-doc uncovers the backstory—historical and personal—of Juneteenth, as told by a collection of our students, scholars, and staff. We thank all of them for sharing their voices and experiences.

Correction: Professor Bob O'Meally is Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and Comparative Literature. Full academic titles are below.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:39 The History of Emancipation Day
03:55 Discovering Juneteenth in 1971
04:28 George Floyd & Juneteenth 2020
06:02 How I Celebrate
07:02 A National Celebration
08:46 Nonwhite Coalition-building
10:38 University Recognition
11:20 How Long Will it Be Before Freedom Is Real?

Featuring:

Frank Guridy, Associate Professor of History and African American and African Diaspora Studies

Colby King, CC’22, African American and African Diaspora Studies and Psychology

Lewis Long, Associate Director, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery

Karma Lowe, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, School of Social Work

Stephanie McCurry, R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History in Honor of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Robert O’Meally, Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and Comparative Literature

Samuel Roberts, Associate Professor of History, Sociomedical Sciences, and African American and African Diaspora Studies

Ixchel Rosal, Associate Vice President for Student Life, Office of University Life

Bérénice Sylverain, GS’21, African American and African Diaspora Studies

[melodymartusa]

Thank you for this! We are going to share this vid to our community!

[merrytunes]

Learned about Juneteenth in my youth in the 80s in Kansas City, MO. We celebrated Juneteenth every year. It is NOT a celebration just for descendants of Texan slaves; that is a wild take. It was liberation for all Black slaves in the US.

[tararodgers]

My, Mama Is From Texas, That's The Reason Why We Learn About

[hmenef]

Why are they mixing LGBT and Spanish speaking immigrant affairs with the Juneteenth celebration that is specifically related to Foundational Black Americans.🤔🤔

[datmeme]

Juneteenth is specific to Texas, but not the official end of slavery in the US. The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in Confederate states, but there were states that did not join the Confederacy, like Delaware and Kentucky, that had slaves and were not covered by the proclamation. Slavery was not officially ended for ALL Africans in America until December 6, 1865 with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. This is the real Emancipation Day. When you celebrate Juneteenth, just know that this is a commemorative date but not the true date America ended slavery.

[Chris-pthh]

Funny, it was the opposite for me. I grew up in Texas, and I never heard about Juneteenth until I came to Columbia.

[BGIRL]

Maryland and Virginia took part in Washington DC's Emancipation Day Celebration on April 16th

[Ettenyljioni]

Many of us deeply melanated people DID NOT have slave ancestry even though our ancestors lived in the South during and even before the Civil War. How many people know that NOT ALL people of color (aka. "African" Americans, called "Negroes" or "coloreds") at that time in the South were slaves? How many people of color have even done a family genealogy search by records to know who their ancestors were during and even before the Civil War that may have even been landowners themselves? There ARE records. Start with the US Census Bureau.

[IAMWORLDBULLYCOMPOUNDGLOBAL]

PEOPLE... SELF DETERMINATION ‼️ is the only true SOLUTION. as done by nearly all humans on the face of the earth 🌍 since the world 🌍 began...

[IAMWORLDBULLYCOMPOUNDGLOBAL]

YOU CELEBRATE 🥂 IT BECAUSE YOUR MASA TELLS YOU TO CELEBRATE IT...

[carolmacdonald]

Great learning moments. Thank you for sharing.

[minangpadang]

Thank you, your information columbia university, afdal

[queenmajesty]

The more we focus on celebrating Juneteenth, we will bring it to the attention of others, letting them know that this day is important to us. Let's aim to have it recognized and celebrated on the same level as Martin Luther King day - which also had it's struggles - but is now well celebrated! as it should be.

[darksoul]

I'm almost 57 years old and I never even heard of Juneteenth until last year. I'm still not sure what it is? That's why I'm watching this right now.

[ameise]

This was very interesting and thought provoking for me. Well done.

[bendaniel]

How great was the gentleman at 9:50 's opinion! The woman that spoke before him had such a negative tone. Then right after her he spoke so beautifully and had such a positive outlook on being a human!

[rvierra]

Uh...I dont celebrate juneteenth. Does anyone?

[tiffanigreen]

I’m from Connecticut and my community has celebrate Juneteenth for over 50 yrs. Thanks to Ms. Cynthia

[haruruben]

Me too, I didn’t even know about Juneteenth until I moved to Texas, it wasn’t a thing in New York but in Texas it was a thing

[ORIGINAL__ONE]

The problem is a lot of us can't find slavery in our family's.
So what are y'all celebrating for