Exploring San Diego's history with Juneteenth

S1: Hey there , San Diego. It's Andrew Bracken in for Jade Hindman. On today's show , Juneteenth is this Friday. We talk about the history of the holiday and how it's been celebrated in San Diego. This is KPBS Midday Edition , connecting our communities through conversation. This year's Juneteenth holidays coming up on Friday. It's a celebration of when enslaved Americans in Galveston , Texas , learned of their independence in 1865 , some two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. And San Diego has its own history with the holiday. And I'm joined now by Kyle Brooks. He's an assistant professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego. Professor Brooks , welcome.

S2: Thank you. It's great to be here.

S1: Great to have you here. So this year , you know , Juneteenth coincides with America's 250th anniversary. And , you know , how are you thinking about the through line there between the history of Juneteenth and this , you know , very monumental kind of 4th of July this year.

S2: So this resonates for me in a number of ways , not the least of which is I happen to be born on the 4th of July , interestingly enough. So I think about the holiday quite a bit. But when I think about the 250th and Juneteenth , I think about what's happening 250 years ago. We get the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This notion that we hold these truths to be self-evident , that all men are created equal. They're endowed with what rights? Life , liberty , the pursuit of happiness. And I ask myself , who in that time was actually granting independence? Who was freedom for? What does this look like? And I consider the fact that Juneteenth happens nearly a century after we get the Declaration of Independence. So that's nearly a century in which the questions of freedom , liberty , the ideas of the pursuit of happiness are being worked out , are being litigated , are being fought over for a long period of time. And to me , the celebration of Juneteenth , the acknowledgement of Juneteenth , requires us to understand it as being situated in a larger sort of pageant and drama of American history. This is not just the history of enslaved African Americans who are finding out about their emancipation. It's the history of how a nation makes and unmaking itself and is trying to figure out a way forward. Hmm.

S1: Hmm. I mean , people might also know Juneteenth by other names Jubilee Day , Emancipation Day , National , you know , National Independence Day. Can you talk about the significance behind some of those names? And you know how we arrived in here at this Juneteenth holiday? Absolutely.

S2: Absolutely. So the the Juneteenth moniker comes from the fact that on June 19th. Um , general. Uh , George. Um , I'm blanking on his name now , but , uh , the the general , uh , issues this order , general order number three. And , uh , in the midst of it. Gordon Granger , that's who I'm thinking of. Yes , I knew it was all. Jeez. Gordon Granger , uh , offers the General Order number three , which officially announces the liberation of African-Americans from chattel slavery for many African-Americans. This is not news to them. This announcement is is primarily for the sake of slave holders who need to be told that , hey , general Lee has resigned , has surrendered. This thing is over. And now this is being enforced by armed forces. And this happens two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation , which for a host of reasons , we could get into some of the misconceptions around what that proclamation actually does. But at the heart of it , you have a lot of different people who are seeing this day differently , those who are viewing it from the perspective of the US government , from the Union Army. And yes , this is a , you know , fine day in our nation's history. There are those who have been involved in this long struggle for abolition and emancipation , who are finally seeing a kind of substantive recognition. Even the idea of jubilee , of Jubilee is a concept that has religious roots , comes from particularly if we look at the history of the Hebrew Bible , the idea of Jubilee being a time period of , I believe , around 50 years or so , when debts are forgiven , people who are indentured or enslaved are set free. So this idea that Jubilee would resonate more prominently for people who have been in the condition of enslavement. So a lot of these different names and perspectives grow out of what is people's social and political situation and relationship to the events of Juneteenth. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Um , let's walk through a little. San Diego's ties to the holiday. What was happening in Southern California? You know , before and after emancipation.

S2: So , lots going on in Southern California. Uh , prior to emancipation in the late 19th centuries , uh , and even still during the era of chattel slavery , you've got , uh , freed and enslaved black people who are migrating to the American West from the South. And a lot of them are looking for something that is different from the social , political and economic conditions they've experienced in the South. And it's not to say those things were simply localized to the South , but they were particularly potent. And so they get to California and they find that for as much as California has a kind of progressive reputation and particular notions about how people see Southern California , for instance , a lot of them found , okay , they're still dealing with challenges of disenfranchisement and segregation. So you've got a significant number of African-American people who are making their way to places like San Diego and other cities in the West. While emancipation is still being worked out at the governmental level and the social and political level , and particularly the history of San Diego's African-American presence is really , really prominent , right. You get the first black settlers as far back as 1769 , and there's still elements of these black settlements that you can find in places like Old Town State Park and Palomar. Julian. Downtown San Diego. Right. And some of these have been lost over time. But the fact being that African-Americans were moving and migrating in many respects across this country , and in many ways , that's how Juneteenth has a particular significance now , is that you get people who come from places that were closer to Galveston , Texas , and that region and who carry these traditions and celebrations with them. So that has a lot to do with how we now , at a local level , get these celebrations.

S1: And how have San Diegans celebrated Juneteenth historically? I mean , it's obviously been happening long before it was a federal holiday , which is fairly recent , right? Absolutely.

S2: Absolutely. Yeah. So we could look to the NAACP , which has had a celebration of Juneteenth in North County for over 50 years. Another prominent group that has celebrated Juneteenth for over 50 years , the Cooper Family Foundation , which is sort of extends from the life and work of Sidney and Thelma Cooper. Sidney Cooper came to San Diego from Oklahoma at the age of 14. And so you think thinking regionally , Oklahoma situated right by Texas , he would have had a cultural familiarity with Juneteenth and its practices and customs and rituals that , of course , migrates and carries over with him as he moves to San Diego and establishes himself and he and his wife. They build businesses and really have. They establish a really strong presence civically and economically in the Imperial Avenue. Neighborhood , which was an historically black neighborhood. So a lot of the ways that these celebrations develop , and , of course , you've got all sorts of events now. I think of Kinfolk Fest and other local events that have really sort of blossomed over the years. And these are all things that have preceded the national. Federal acknowledgment of the holiday.

S1: And we'll have some links to those events on our website at npr.org. Um , you know , earlier you kind of touched on California's history , and obviously we have a particular vision of , I don't know , California politics or California of today , but it wasn't always like this liberal bastion that a people associate with , you know , the coastal like communities today. Right. Mhm. Um , what do you think people miss about San Diego's relationship to Juneteenth.

S2: So I think part of what people miss is that. Juneteenth is not simply an acknowledgement of or I would say it is not an acknowledgement of freedom as an event. Freedom , as I understand it , is an ongoing practice , which is to say that Juneteenth marks an event. But the ripples , the waves , the after effects of that event are significant. Um , we deal with into the 20th century challenges of Jim Crow segregation. We deal with some of the lasting legacies of slavery , the war on crime , housing discrimination , educational achievement gaps , wealth inequalities. Um , even if we think about how the demographics of San Diego have been shaped , it's about 5% African American population. And that is due to a host of factors , but also our life , our existence socially , politically and economically in this city and in the state is very much tied to what is happening nationally. And I think this is a very critical time to keep these histories in mind. History is not just the thing that happened. History is a thing that we're implicated in. We're involved in. So part of our responsibility , I think , as civically minded people , as individuals , as communities , is to do the practice , do the work of understanding that California has had its own challenges , whether we think about prison industrial complex , whether we think about housing insecurity and discrimination. Right. There are a host of ways that the work of actually fulfilling those things from the Declaration of Independence , right? This idea of freedom , justice , the idea of the pursuit of happiness that requires work , it doesn't just happen passively. So to me , we have to be able to say , how do these historic events and celebrations connect to our present day struggles to make the world a better place for all people.

S1: You know , earlier on the show , we spoke with Imam Taha Hasan from the Islamic Center of San Diego , and he kind of had this larger message of of just the importance of faith and spirituality into just a variety of issues in our society. As a scholar yourself of religious studies and theology , how do faith , spirituality , spirituality? How does that tie into Juneteenth in some of what we're talking about here today?

S2: Oh , that's an excellent question. We could speak to the fact that during the era of chattel slavery , we have what is often referred to as the invisible institution. This refers to the religious gatherings that enslaved African-Americans produced on their own. These places where they would go to worship , to pray , to celebrate , right , to to lament and do all these things. And that forms in part as a resistance to the way that Christianity is being utilized by slave holding persons being utilized by a Christian denominations to enforce and reinforce the idea that Christianity and the instruction of enslaved people is how you want to keep them in line , keep them in order , how you use religious ideas. The concept of heaven to focus the attention of enslaved people on the afterlife , rather than dealing with the terms and conditions of their natural lives here on Earth. We could also think about the ways that these ideas of freedom and justice get embedded into religious and spiritual musical traditions , such as the spirituals. I think of the lines of some of these , uh , songs. Oh , freedom , oh , freedom , freedom over me. Before I be a slave , I'd be buried in my grave. And go home to my Lord and be free. So deeply woven into these religious traditions and practices is an eye towards emancipation , towards abolition , towards freedom. So religion has always been implicated and tied into people's questions of how they imagine flourishing. How do they imagine life beyond the constraints of a world that often has worked against freedom and worked against independence.

S1: How could Saint Higgins continue to learn more about Juneteenth in its history?

S2: So I think that's an excellent question , one I encourage everyone to get involved with your local libraries. Your local libraries will be incredible resources. For one , just figuring out what's the literature on Juneteenth? What do I read about? What can I study? What are things that you can , you know , get for your kids that will be accessible for them? What are the celebrations that are happening? I encourage people to check out local celebrations of Juneteenth , the festivals Cooper Family Foundation , check out the NAACP , check out all of these events that are going on. And you know , you don't have to go to everything. But I would say part of what is our responsibility as a populace , as citizens , is to be actively doing the work of memory. Um , to me , it's not enough to be nostalgic about the idea of America , of an America that was or an America that we think is , but rather we have to understand that to the extent that freedom or justice , as celebrated as exemplified through Juneteenth , are real and palpable things , it requires us to take an active role in our learning. So don't wait for somebody to tell you about it. See what's happening. Get out. Learn. Explore. Be curious.

S1: It's great to hear that , let alone from someone born on the 4th of July.

S2: Yes , absolutely.

S1: I've been speaking with Kyle Brooks , assistant professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego. Professor Brooks , thanks so much for being here today and have a great Juneteenth and birthday coming up , too.

S2: Thank you. Andrew , it's been a pleasure.

S3: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.