Juneteenth In Texas Carries Joy, History And Complicated Feelings As Federal Holiday Grows
Juneteenth has always belonged to Texas in a special way.
Long before it became a federal holiday in 2021, June 19 was already part of the rhythm of Black Texas life: parades, cookouts, church gatherings, speeches, family reunions, pageants and trips to Galveston, where the news of freedom finally reached enslaved Black people in 1865.
Texas made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980, but as the celebration has spread across the country, many Black Texans say the national spotlight has brought both overdue recognition and new complications.
Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order No. 3, informing enslaved Black people in Texas that they were free.
The news came more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, making Juneteenth a day tied not only to freedom, but also to delayed justice.
For generations, Black Texans preserved that history through community celebrations. Families gathered in parks. Churches held programs. Elders told younger generations why the day mattered. Galveston became a place of remembrance, not just a line in a history book.
That long tradition is why some Texans view the holiday’s national expansion with pride, but also caution.
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A Federal Holiday With Mixed Feelings
Since becoming a federal holiday, Juneteenth has taken on a broader national identity. For many, that has meant more education, more public acknowledgment and more space to honor Black freedom.
But others worry the meaning has been watered down.
“I do believe that the celebration becoming a national holiday and being seen as a day off by people who don’t understand the history has watered down what we know the holiday is and what it means,” Kendra Greene, an educator and community activist from Port Arthur, Texas, told theGrio. “That means people making merch and events are costing something.”
Greene said the concern is not that more people are celebrating, but that some celebrations and products miss the roots of the holiday altogether.
“A lot of people don’t even understand the thing they’re selling,” Greene said. “A lot of the information being shared and celebrations being held … being hosted by people who don’t understand the root of the holiday is where we’ve shifted away from what Juneteenth is.”
The Colors, The Flag And The Debate
In recent years, even the colors of Juneteenth have become part of the public conversation.
The official Juneteenth flag, created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith, uses red, white and blue. Haith has said those colors were chosen to reflect the fact that formerly enslaved Black people and their descendants were always part of America, even when the country refused to fully recognize their citizenship.
“For so long, our ancestors weren’t considered citizens of this country,” Haith told Capital B News. “But realistically, and technically, they were citizens. They just were deprived of being recognized as citizens. So I thought it was important that the colors portray red, white, and blue, which we see in the American flag.”
The flag also includes a star, a nod to Texas as the Lone Star State, and a symbol of a new beginning for freed Black people.
Still, many Juneteenth celebrations have long used red, black and green, the colors of Pan-Africanism, along with gold accents. For many Texans, the debate over colors matters far less than keeping the purpose of the day front and center.
Keeping Black Texans At The Center
Before Juneteenth became nationally recognized, the holiday’s path in Texas was shaped by years of advocacy.
Texas state Rep. Al Edwards authored the bill that made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. Fort Worth’s Opal Lee, widely known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” also spent years pushing for national recognition, including through symbolic walks meant to raise awareness about the day’s meaning.
Edwards died in 2020, one year before Juneteenth became a federal holiday.
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As Juneteenth events now take place across the country, Black Texans continue urging people to remember where the holiday began.
“Some of the larger celebrations of Juneteenth across the country have been in places like California and Washington State,” Greene said. “Most of that is due to The Great Migration from people leaving Louisiana and Texas and heading elsewhere, but keep the tradition of Juneteenth with them.”
That tradition is bigger than a long weekend. It is about remembrance, truth and a freedom story that began in Texas but now belongs to the nation.
For Black Texans, the message remains clear: Juneteenth can be celebrated by many, but it should never be separated from the people, history and struggle that gave it life.
