Juneteenth - One of Many Emancipations
, by Kane Kinnebrew, 3 min reading time
Juneteenth Marks an Important Milestone —
But It's Not the End of the Story
While Juneteenth marks the official end of slavery in the United States, it was far from the end of Black oppression. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that enslaved people were legally free—two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. But freedom on paper did not equate to liberty in practice.
Across the South, a wave of new laws, economic systems, and social practices emerged to keep Black Americans tethered to the same plantations and power structures they had just been freed from. Known as Black Codes, these laws criminalized everyday life for newly freed people, allowing states to arrest them for vague offenses like vagrancy or loitering. Those convicted were often leased out to former slaveholders and white-owned businesses through the convict leasing system—an arrangement so brutal that many historians have called it "slavery by another name."
The Convict Leasing System: Slavery Reinvented
The notorious convict-lease system was indeed a reinvention of slavery under another name. Black individuals were frequently arrested for minor infractions—often trumped up—and then leased to plantations, mines, or railroads for extremely low or no pay. By the late 19th century, some Southern states derived up to 70% of their budget from convict leasing, with Black men comprising the vast majority of those imprisoned.
This system's legacy persists today. Modern for-profit prison systems continue to exploit mostly Black and brown men for cheap labor, creating what many scholars recognize as a direct line from convict leasing to mass incarceration.
Sharecropping: The Illusion of Freedom
One of the most insidious systems to emerge in the post-emancipation era was sharecropping. Many formerly enslaved people, lacking land, capital, or legal rights, entered into agreements with white landowners to farm plots in exchange for a portion of the crop. While pitched as a pathway to independence, sharecropping was often a trap.
Landowners manipulated accounting, charged exorbitant prices at company stores, and left Black farmers in permanent debt. In many cases, families were forced to stay on the land generation after generation, unable to leave without risking arrest or violence. In some Southern states, laws known as peonage statutes criminalized leaving a job before debts were paid—essentially binding workers to their employers in forced labor.
Systematic Oppression on Multiple Fronts
The assault on Black freedom took many forms. Apprenticeship laws targeted Black children, forcing them into unpaid labor under the guise of training. Even as freedmen fought to build schools, churches, and businesses, white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan terrorized communities with lynchings and arson, punishing any sign of progress.
This wasn't a post-slavery recovery; it was a recalibration of the same oppression under new names and laws.
Resistance and Resilience
Yet despite these horrors, African Americans endured, resisted, and rose. Education became a powerful form of resistance, with Black communities prioritizing literacy and higher learning as tools of liberation. Churches served as centers of organization and hope. Businesses were built despite legal obstacles and violent threats. Every achievement was an act of defiance against a system designed to crush Black aspirations.
The True Meaning of Juneteenth
Today, Juneteenth is not just a celebration of a single day in history—it's a reminder of the strength, resilience, and hope of a people who refused to be broken. By learning the full truth of what came after emancipation, we not only honor those who suffered but empower new generations to continue the fight for justice and equality.
True healing begins not by ignoring the past, but by confronting it with courage and clarity. Juneteenth marks the beginning of freedom, not its completion—and that ongoing struggle for true liberation continues today.