"Juneteenth" as it's now known is a holiday that some of us have never heard of. Time for a change and, of course, food brings us together and plays an important role in the celebration.
Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick signed a proclamation that makes June 19 a day of observance in the Commonwealth. Many people associate Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with the eradication of slavery. Though it was official in 1863, the Proclamation’s work of eradicating slavery in the US was only completed when the last African-Americans held as slaves in Galveston, Texas learned on June 19, 1865, that they were free.
Florida and Oklahoma recognized the day long before Massachusetts did. Only Texas gives state workers the day off. When you’re behind Texas, Florida and Oklahoma on race issues, your state has some work to do. Just an observation.
But why a barbecue? Historically, Proclamation or no, African-Americans were barred from gathering in public places or parks, so churches and family ranches and farms were the places where families gathered to celebrate the date.
Some liken “Juneteenth” to “the July 4th Independence Day” holiday when Americans gather at cookouts to celebrate things like “inalienable rights” and “freedom from oppression.” Some Americans just had to wait another 90 years for their Independence Day.
The day’s significance has been celebrated with gatherings at churches and backyards across the country since 1865. As is so often the case, food brings people together and gives them a bridge across generations. In the Western US, where many of us forget cowboys still exist, descendants of the last slaves in the country, black cowboys, gather to celebrate Juneteenth. Robb Walsh chronicles Mama Sugar’s 5 Bar S Ranch in June’s Gourmet Magazine. It’s a mouthwatering bit of American history. While kids from the ranch tease their city cousins, briskets get smoked, cobblers get plated. Like Passover, the holiday is one of freedom from slavery, of deliverance. Mama Sugar reminds her grandkids of the days when blacks had to use the back door, eat from different plates, in the kitchen.
Fittingly, our Governor officially recognized Juneteenth at one such gathering here in Boston’s Franklin Park. People shared food and shared history. Thousands cheered over the smoke of grills. Photos were snapped and grandparents probably tried to impress their grandchildren with the significance of the moment.
The night Governor Patrick won the election, the first news reports I read claimed he was the “first African-American governor in the U.S.” I couldn’t believe it, of course, they were wrong. That L. Douglas Wilder (elected governor of Virginia in 1995) was overlooked should be unsettling. Then again, only half the states recognize the day slavery was finally eradicated in the US and we seem not to notice.
Yes, there’s lots of work yet to be done. A good place to start is over a family meal where family history can be shared. Why not fire up the grill on June 19th and start a new tradition? Visit Epicurious.com for Mama Sugar’s Sweet Potato Cobbler.
