Juneteenth commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in the state of Texas, and more generally the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the U.S. But the struggle was far from over. The following is an excerpt from the November 9, 1889 Richmond Dispatch news account:
“On Wednesday evening, October 30th, in the neighborhood of Hamilton, about dusk a school-girl fifteen years of age was assaulted by a negro boy while on her way home from the Hamilton Academy. The child reported the assault and declared she believed the negro scoundrel was one Owen Anderson, but that he was disguised so that she could hardly tell. He was taken in charge at once and brought before her, but she failed to identify him. On Thursday morning a search was made on the ground of the attempted assault, and near the place an old guano-sack was found, which the brute evidently used to disguise himself. It was brought before him and having told several tales he confessed his horrible attempt and was forthwith sent to the Leesburg jail to await the action of the grand jury.”
The ‘brute’ was a fourteen-year-old boy who allegedly put a sack over his head to scare a classmate. To me, it was nothing more than an adolescent prank that one of my boys might have done at that age given the opportunity. A week later, this boy, Orion “Owen” Anderson, was abducted from his jail cell by a mob, beaten, shot and hung by the neck at the rail station in downtown Leesburg where he died the most awful death imaginable. Today we celebrate the memory of that boy and others like him who were deprived of justice, life and liberty at the hands of racism and hate. Today, as we celebrate the abolition of slavery in our country, let us recognize and remember all moments in history—the good, the bad and the ugly—and learn from them. Let’s show the world that as Americans, we can overcome anything!
