Juneteenth, Cultural Narcissism and Beyond

The peh Factor

“Seeking balance in a polarized world”

Is it any wonder that I, a white man, 69 years old, have never heard of Juneteenth? I don’t know if in prior years there has been a focus upon it on the news or on The Today Show or Good Morning America. I don’t believe I read about a Texas event in in my California school textbooks growing up. If it was taught, there is a hole in my memory.

So, for those of you who, like me, have been out of the loop, here is the brief summary of the day from the website, www.history.com.

• Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday.

• Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House two months earlier in Virginia, but slavery had remained relatively unaffected in Texas—until U.S. General Gordon Granger stood on Texas soil and read General Orders No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

The Emancipation Proclamation

• The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, had established that all enslaved people in Confederate states in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”

• But in reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t instantly free any enslaved people. The proclamation only applied to places under Confederate control and not to slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control. However, as Northern troops advanced into the Confederate South, many enslaved people fled behind Union lines.

Juneteenth and Slavery in Texas

• In Texas, slavery had continued as the state experienced no large-scale fighting or significant presence of Union troops. Many enslavers from outside the Lone Star State had moved there, as they viewed it as a safe haven for slavery.

• After the war came to a close in the spring of 1865, General Granger’s arrival in Galveston that June signaled freedom for Texas’s 250,000 enslaved people. Although emancipation didn’t happen overnight for everyone—in some cases, enslavers withheld the information until after harvest season—celebrations broke out among newly freed black people, and Juneteenth was born. That December, slavery in America was formally abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment.

Thus, on this Juneteenth, I want to say:

• Black friends…claim it… The largely white government proclaimed it, fought and died for it (620,000 deaths of which 40,000 were African Americans), and made sure citizens in every corner of our nation knew the new law of the land. The obvious racism of our beginnings was being corrected. Those who were 3/5s were now 100%. You are a valued and equal part of our nation.

• White folks…get over it…No slavery…No 2nd class citizenship…African Americana are equal citizens and here to stay.

• Hispanic folks…be the citizens you are entitled to be.

• Daca folks…your day is coming…thank you for all you have brought to this country.

• Other continent folks…This is America…help us be the best America can be.

One of the problems I have witnessed in America over the last 50+ years is what I call cultural narcissism. The existence of what I see as a narcissistic president is that he simply reflects the culture out of which he grew.

• My sexuality is more important than anything else

• My race is more important than anything else

• My finances are more important than anything else

• My freedom is more important than the responsibilities that come with it

• My power is more important than the lives of those my power might crush

• My life is more important than the children I spawned or have born

• My toys are more important that the relationships they might create, after all, the one with the most toys wins

Individual narcissism has also grown into group polarization. Sometimes I scan through radio stations and listen to some talk radio hosts. This morning I stumbled across Rush Limbaugh. He represents a number of radio hosts with large followings. The general demeanor I have observed is the creation of an us against them mentality. Anyone who does not agree with me is out to destroy what we cherish. Of course, with Limbaugh it is the conspiratorial left. With Hannity it is the deep state. For those on the left it is the right wing conservatives who want to control us by robbing us of our freedoms by demanding their own. Group narcissism.

For me, narcissism in this setting will ultimately lead to an irreparable divide within our country. Pushed to its ultimate end I believe anarchy would explode. Some believe it already has.

People, when will we lift our eyes beyond ourselves and begin to think of us. Isn’t us a smaller form of US? The official motto of the United States is ‘E Pluribus Unum.’ “Out of many, One.” Our founders acknowledged that in our country there would be MANY points of origin, of culture, of history, of language, of philosophy, etc. It seems we have spent a great deal of time and energy on defining, defending and demanding the causes and philosophies of “the many” without doing the hard work that will forge us into becoming ONE.

And what is that hard work? Listening to the hopes and dreams of people different from me. Dialogue so I can respond, sharing my own hopes and dreams. Creating a vision of shared hopes and dreams toward which we can work together. Developing a plan to move the vision toward reality.

I believe we must return to the challenge I first heard through John F. Kennedy in his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961, when he said:

“Ask not what your country can do for you. As what you can do for your country.”

To get to this point certain behaviors need to be lived. A favorite passage of mine could lead us a long way down the road to “UNUM” if we could muster the courage and resolve to pursue it. Ephesian 4:25-32 says:

• 25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Paul