Reflections on Race in America
“I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot. I will not. And other survivors do not. And our descendants do not.”- Viola Fletcher, survivor of The 1921 Race Riot.
Demonstrating respect and inclusion for one another in the present involves recognizing and appreciating the past. As Viola Fletcher shared in her quote above, while survivors and their descendants have searing memories and experiences related to the 1921 Race Riot, many others may not know about or understand the significance of the event. The same could be said of Juneteenth, a holiday with cultural significance for Black and African Americans but one that remains unfamiliar for many others.
In an effort to enhance our awareness of diverse experiences – past and present – and to commemorate events that have particular cultural significance for many Black and African American people, we want to share some information about two events: Juneteenth and the 1921 Race Riot.
- Juneteenth: In April 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union Army, marking the end of the Civil War. Two months later, on June 19, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX and informed African Americans of their freedom. In honor of this event, “June” and “19” were combined and the holiday “Juneteenth” was born. The day is also sometimes referred to as “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day,” or “Emancipation Day.” Communities and families gather – making annual pilgrimages to Galveston and/or participating in parades and block parties – to commemorate freedom from slavery.
- 1921 Race Riot: Nearly 60 years after enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas were informed of their freedom, a White mob attacked community members in the Black neighborhood of Greenwood (located in Tulsa, Oklahoma). Residents were murdered and homes and businesses (including a thriving area called “Black Wall Street”) were destroyed. According to the Tulsa Race Riot Commission’s 2001 report, hundreds of survivors were rounded up at gunpoint and forced to march to camps, where they were held for weeks and many were forced to labor without pay. It was reported that survivors also recounted seeing Black bodies being dumped into the Arkansas River and into mass graves.
Black history is American history. Helping everybody to know about these historical events and the significance they hold is important as we all recognize and appreciate one another – in and out of work.
Maya Angelou has famously said, “When you know better, you do better.” As such, if this brief blog has shed light on some gaps in your own knowledge, we encourage you to better understand what those gaps are and work to fill them. Below are some resources we have collected to assist you as you deepen your knowledge and understanding.
- What is Juneteenth? By Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
- What is Juneteenth and Why Do We Celebrate? | BrainPOP (Video)
- Virtual Tour: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Slavery and Freedom exhibit.
- Teaching Tolerance: A Guide to Teaching Juneteenth – The history of Juneteenth acknowledges hard history while also empowering students to be advocates for change. This teaching guide is a project of the Southern Law Poverty Center.
- The Johnsons Celebrate Juneteenth – black-ish (Video):
- Netflix: High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America– Based on the foundational book of the same name by food historian Jessica B. Harris, the four-part series travels to Benin, West Africa, as well as around the United States, from South Carolina to Texas, Philadelphia and New York. In doing so, the show reveals stories behind the food of the African American table and its relationship to Black history.
- “Freedom” – Musical Performance from black-ish (Video)
- “I AM A Slave”- The Roots Meets Schoolhouse Rock- black-ish (Video)
- Netflix: 13th (Video) Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay’s examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country’s history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America. The Oscar-nominated film won Best Documentary at the Emmys, the BAFTAs and the NAACP Image Awards. Watch it here.
- Celebrating Juneteenth: The History Behind The Holiday (Podcast): A radio special produced by On Point from WBUR in Boston featuring Daina Ramey Berry, professor of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
- NPR Fresh Air: The History of Juneteenth (Podcast): Juneteenth, formerly Emancipation Day or Jubilee, celebrates the day slavery ended in Texas, June 19, 1865. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed studies the early American republic and the legacy of slavery. “It was a very, very tense time — hope and at the same time, hostility,” Gordon-Reed says. Her book is ‘On Juneteenth.’
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (Book): From 1915 to 1970, the exodus of almost six million people who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life changed the face of America. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessment, The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is destined to become a classic.
- The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson (Book): tells the story of engineer Ruth Tuttle and her journey to reconcile a shame-filled past riddled with secrets in an effort to start a family of her own. Set during the Great Recession and the beginning of a new era of hope following President Obama’s first presidential win, this novel comments on race, class, and family dynamics. While her husband’s eager to begin a family, Ruth is uncertain; she’s still haunted by the decision she made as a teenager to leave her son behind. And so, she returns to her estranged family in the recession-stricken town in Ganton, Indiana to make peace with her past — a process that ultimately forces her to grapple with her own demons, discover long-hidden lies amongst her family, and face the racially charged town she escaped years ago. The Kindest Lie is a compelling embodiment of the nuances of growing up in a Black, working-class family in America and the intricate connections between race and class.
By Jordan Collins, M.S. and Shirley Godwin, M.S.
