By Tommy Ross | Special to The OBSERVER
Undoubtedly, the Emancipation Proclamation was a pivotal moment in our country’s history. It lifted the spirits and created hope for all enslaved people in America and for those who supported the abolition of slavery and changed the character of the war.
Yet, it’s important to understand the whole story because freedom never comes from just a single occurrence and is rarely one-and-done. It’s a perishable circumstance that requires active maintenance and a deep understanding of how it’s given and taken away spiritually, constitutionally, or physically.
The story is well-known nationwide. On January 1, 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring with the stroke of a pen that the more than three million slaves living in the Confederate states were free. It took more than two years, however, before the news of freedom and the abolition of slavery was delivered by Union soldiers to the slaves of Texas when they arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865.
An eruption of celebration cascaded from that moment, including prayer meetings, the singing of spirituals, and celebrants wearing new clothes to represent their newfound freedom. June 19th became an annual celebration. Texas declared the date a state holiday in 1980, and other states soon followed. It only seemed a matter of time before June 19th would be declared a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States and to honor African American culture and achievements. It finally happened in 2021.
The Emancipation Proclamation Was One Layer of a Multi-Faceted Freedom Movement
Other truths must be folded into our emancipation story. Slavery has ended, true. What is also true is that the proclamation only applied to the Confederate states that had seceded from the Union. Thus, the areas where the proclamation was intended to have the most immediate impact were those where the President had no real authority.
There are also questions as to whether the proclamation was issued as a military order under Lincoln’s powers as Commander-in-Chief during the Civil War rather than as a permanent law — if it even had the force of law to abolish slavery in the long term. The Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to the border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, and Maryland, thus leaving them outside its intended reach and allowing slavery to persist until the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments Tell More of Our Emancipation Story
The actual abolishment of slavery throughout the United States came with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution on December 6, 1865, a date that is rarely recognized and certainly not celebrated in our community or acknowledged by the media as the actual date when slavery was officially ended.
Let’s take this one step further. The 13th Amendment was the first of the Reconstruction Amendments adopted after The Civil War. The other two were the 14th Amendment, adopted on July 9, 1869, which provided citizenship, equal protection, and due process for the freed slaves, and the 15th Amendment, adopted on February 3, 1870, protecting the right to vote. And let me be clear about something — the anniversary of the 15th Amendment occurs on February 3rd, during Black History Month.
With the adoption of these three amendments, the foundation was laid for future generations to build upon and ultimately claim the rights that were later denied but are still due to us.
We Must Know and Tell Our WHOLE Story
Don’t get me wrong; I know the struggle continues and that racism is real. But when I hear that the country is inherently and incurably racist, I look around to see the accomplishments of African Americans at every level of society. We had a former two-term President, current heads of multi-billion corporations, small, medium, and large business entrepreneurs, media, entertainment, and culture leaders, and personnel at every level of government and health care. The list goes on, and we collectively represent a major global economic force.
These three amendments come to my mind because the Constitution created the framework for the rights, freedoms, and opportunities we now enjoy and are worth celebrating. So, I have always found it odd that if we are going to commemorate the end of slavery in this country and acknowledge major milestones in Black History, we don’t celebrate or at least recognize these dates.
So, if I see you on February 3rd and raise a glass to a Happy 15th Amendment Day, on July 9th wish you a Happy 14th Amendment Day, and on December 6th greet you with a hearty Happy 13th Amendment Day, please accept them as a sincere desire to acknowledge three major dates in Black History that I believe are worthy of celebration. And an everlasting hope that they will be worth mentioning during Black History Month.