June 10, 2021
Dear Reed faculty, staff, and students,
Last year, Reed began its official recognition of Juneteenth as a day to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved Americans in 1865. Soon, we will commemorate this critical moment in our nation’s history for the second time.
Since Reed’s inception, the college has recognized July 4 as a celebration of America’s independence and the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, however, these unalienable rights were denied to enslaved people. July 4 has never represented a celebration of the freedom and rights of those who were enslaved in and well beyond 1776. Juneteenth commemorates the liberation of southern slaves in 1865—almost 100 years after the nation’s Independence Day.
While many of us were taught that slavery ended when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, it took nearly three years* from that date to end chattel slavery across the nation. Texas was the final Confederate state in which the emancipation proclamation was enforced. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and stated, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
In the decades that followed, Black people across the country began to celebrate June 19, or Juneteenth, as Liberation Day or Freedom Day.
Given the stringent COVID-19 related constraints in place last summer, we were not able to come together for a community observance. This year, we are pleased to announce a number of Reed and greater Portland area events to which you are cordially invited:
We invite the Reed Community to commemorate Juneteenth on Thursday, June 17 at noon by gathering in front of the Gray Campus Center (GCC). We will have a moment of reflection, followed by an optional boxed meal from Everybody Eats PDX. You are welcome to dine together in small groups in the outdoor eating areas near the GCC.
Oregon’s Juneteenth Celebration this year is virtual and will take place on Saturday, June 19. Produced by PDX Jazz, Juneteenth Oregon will include streamed live performances and guest speakers. We also invite Reed community members to learn about the history of Portland’s Black communities through the 6th Annual Vanport Mosaic Festival, which includes many virtual panels and performances and in-person self-guided tours and exhibits. This festival will continue throughout the entire month of June.
To our Black community members, we hope that Junteenth provides an opportunity for rest, reflection, renewal, and celebration with family and friends. To our broader community, we ask that you take this day to renew your commitments to anti-racist practice by supporting Black communities at Reed, in Portland, and across the nation, whether it be through self-study, engaging in dialogue, participating in civic activism, or supporting local Black businesses.
Sincerely,
Mary James, Cami West, Ashley Stull Meyers, and Jessika Chi
Office for Institutional Diversity
*Kentucky, having never joined the Confederacy, was not included in the Emancipation Proclamation and did not abolish slavery until passage of the 13th amendment in December 1865, almost three years after the initial Emancipation Proclamation.