Administrative Judge Edwards interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard Law School professor

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — On behalf of the Kings County Courts Black History Month Committee, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pulitzer Prize winning author Annette Gordon-Reed, a Harvard Law School Professor, about her most recent book “On Juneteenth.” The book is a history lesson about Texas and her unique experiences. Professor Gordon-Reed chose the title “On Juneteenth” because she wanted to reference the day.

When people think about Texas, they think about cowboys, cattle ranchers and oilmen. They think  about the West. They do not think about plantation life or the fact that there were enslavers in Texas. The state was part of the Confederacy, and there were many slaves in Texas. In fact, the people who came  to Texas, the Europeans, brought their slaves in order to maintain the system of slavery, although other  states, including Virginia, were becoming ambivalent about slavery. The Texas Republic’s Constitution  indicated the Texans had the right to slavery, and Africans could not be citizens. There was no ambivalence  about it at all.

Professor Gordon-Reed wanted to reconstitute the history of Texas, indicating that Texas always had a  variety of residents. Even before British people came to Texas, the Spanish were there and there were  people of African descent who came over with the Spanish people. Although the professor states that Texas is construed as a White man, it was always multicultural. She wanted to present the full image of Texas. Is it really super conservative, a super red state? Yes, but people fixate on that and it is really a tiny part of people there. Professor Gordon-Reed wanted to tell a truthful story about Texas and not just about cowboys, oil men and White guys.

The professor wants us to “remember the Alamo.” Gordon-Reed endeavored to put a different spin on the  story. From a truly historic point of view, there is the conflict between Mexico and Texas. The Texans,  who were slave owners, wanted to separate Texas from Mexico to preserve slavery. Mexico had outlawed  slavery in the 1820s, and they gave Texas a kind of special deal. Texas wanted assurances from Mexico  that they would never challenge slavery. Many Texans did not trust Mexico. Texas wanted to become its own country. This part of Texas’ story is not positive. Texas prefers the heroic story about David  Crockett, Jim Bowie and William Travis as heroes. Gordon-Reed wants us to remember the Alamo in  a truthful way, not just a glorified version.

Gordon-Reed expounds about her experience with integration. Her parents decided to integrate her into one of the schools in their hometown. She and her siblings were attending the Black school, Booker  T. Washington. The Freedom of Choice Plan, a plan that was a way to avoid integration, allowed White  parents to choose white schools and Black parents to choose black schools. That way, no one was forced to do anything, and everybody would just do what was always done: go to separate schools. 

Gordon-Reed’s parents decided to send her to a white school, Anderson Elementary, as a first grader. She was the only Black person in the school; even the janitors and cooks were White. It was difficult to be in the school, but her teacher looked out for her when she realized Gordon-Reed did not need any extra help and in some cases exceeded expectations. The students, of course, ignored her, would not speak to her or eat lunch with her, but she was able to push past that because she loved learning and was able to do well in school. That made the difference in how she was able to cope with integrating the school. 

Gordon-Reed discusses a  group of White girls who were part of an extremely poor family. She could tell that they were poor by their clothing — they always wore the same thing. Their clothes were handmade; they all wore different versions of the same thing. The eldest sister always asked Gordon-Reed to play. When they were playing Red Rover or Ring Around the Rose, they would always include her in the games. The other students were unkind, but that was a lesson to her: not everybody was the same.

Gordon-Reed grew up celebrating Juneteenth, and although she originally thought it should be celebrated  only by Texans, she realized that it should be celebrated as an advancement in human rights where the  military effort to preserve slavery in the South was defeated in Texas. 

In 1865, Gordon Granger, a general in the United States Army, arrived in Galveston with Black troops after the Southern army finally surrendered. Most people think the surrender at Appomattox, VA, ended a war, but it didn’t. The fighting continued across Mississippi and all the way to Texas. The last battle of the Civil War was in Texas, and the Confederates actually won that battle, but they knew that they had lost the war and surrendered on June 2, 1863. That is why, two years later, General Granger came to Texas, bringing Black troops to liberate Black people, to the extent that they had control over the territory. 

There were also many slaves who ran away. Many think of running away and following the North Star, but in Texas, people went south because Mexico was free territory. General Granger brought General Order #3 and announced that slaves were free because, as the story is told, Black people in Texas did not know about the Emancipation Proclamation, which had taken place two years prior. In reality, Black people knew about it, but there was nothing they could do because the war was still being fought in Texas. It was not until Texas surrendered that there was a chance to actually celebrate and take advantage of the order in the proclamation. Gordon-Reed’s research revealed a number of instances where people were punished for celebrating. Black people were whipped and killed for celebrating. The violence that was unleashed on the freedman after slavery ended was unspeakable, and Texas was one of the worst places for former slaves.

Professor Gordon-Reed found her great-great-grandfather’s name on a voter registration list in 1867, which caused her to think deeply about the courage that Black people had at that time to be willing to celebrate their freedom. In 1875, a group of five Black men pooled their resources and purchased land in Houston, TX, for the express purpose of celebrating Juneteenth. It took courage and faith to embark on such an endeavor. The place still exists, and it is called Emancipation Park. It is true that everything did not automatically become wonderful after emancipation, but the idea of celebrating every year since 1865 is miraculous and inspirational.