Interview
Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian and Author
- Annette Gordon-Reed's 2024 book, On Juneteenth, traces the historical origins of the June 19, 1865, announcement by Major General Gordon Granger in Texas, which ended legalized slavery.
- The work blends memoir and history, examining the Black experience in Texas, where Gordon-Reed was born and raised.
- Gordon-Reed notes that while Juneteenth was originally a localized celebration for Black Texans, it became a statewide holiday in 1980, leading to broader public participation.
- Gordon-Reed details the role of slavery in shaping Texas culture, countering the common narrative of the state as purely a land of cowboys or oil.
- Stephen F. Austin, known as the "father of Texas," promoted the extension of the cotton empire and slavery into the Mexican territory.
- Austin's pro-slavery stance was framed as anti-miscegenation (concerned with white and Black people living together) rather than a moral stance, coupled with the economic belief that white settlers could not survive without enslaved labor.
- Slavery is identified as a foundational element of Texas culture, though frequently omitted from popular historical conceptions compared to states like Mississippi or Virginia.
- The integration of schools in Conroe, Texas, following the Brown v. Board of Education decision, caused significant social friction within the Black community.
- Gordon-Reed's family utilized the "Freedom of Choice Plan" to send her to an all-white school while her older brothers and mother remained at the Black school, Booker T. Washington.
- Many in the Black community viewed her attendance at the white school as a betrayal, believing it signaled the loss of their educational autonomy and community identity.
- The integration process resulted in the removal of Black teachers from classrooms, often demoting them to non-teaching roles or moving them to non-classroom positions.
- This loss of Black teachers eliminated key community role models who lived within and socialized closely with their students.
- Gordon-Reed observed that Black students from her neighborhood avoided playing outside when they saw their former Black teachers driving by, as interaction was no longer socially permitted.
- Gordon-Reed argues that the reluctance to acknowledge painful historical narratives, such as the Tulsa Race Massacre or false rape accusations against Black men like Joe Winters and Bob White, stems from a national tendency to present a "pristine" history.
- This avoidance is often driven by a belief that acknowledging historical atrocities undermines allegiance, particularly among young people.
- Gordon-Reed contends that young people are capable of understanding historical complexity and that knowing the full condition of society is necessary to make effective changes.
- She highlights the Alamo myth as an example of how national identity relies on "origin stories" that often ignore the slave-owning status of the fighters and the explicit protection of slavery in the Texas republic they created.
- The concept of the Alamo as a "last stand" remains a potent cultural symbol in Texas, frequently invoked in modern political contexts, such as by Democrats during voter suppression protests.
- The push for Juneteenth to become a federal holiday gained rapid momentum in June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Gordon-Reed was invited to the White House for the presidential signing ceremony on a Sunday night, with the legislation passed within days of the invitation.
- The event featured Opal Lee, a 94-year-old activist who had walked across Texas for years to promote the holiday.
- President Biden personally acknowledged Lee during the ceremony, handing her a pin and highlighting her decades of advocacy.
- Gordon-Reed expresses optimism regarding the accuracy of historical accounts in the modern era, citing a diversification of voices in the historical profession.
- Since the 1950s, the historical field has increasingly focused on slavery and race, moving away from the previously "tight control" over the historical narrative.
- She notes that while some past records were deliberately excised (e.g., Tulsa articles cut from newspapers for microfilm), such suppression is difficult to replicate in the current information landscape.
- While vigilance is required to counter false narratives, the increased diversity of scholars and writers makes it harder to hide historical truths compared to the past.