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I’m sure you’ve the initial order that General Granger read in Galveston 155 years ago, but there’s a huge part of the story that folks may not know about. #JUNETEENTH2020 
There was a second order, dated June 28, 1865, that laid out in more explicit terms what was supposed to happen.
It specifically says that the enslaved were to remain w/ their slaveholders & to wait on the Freedmens Bureau to oversee things between the two groups.
It specifically says that the enslaved were to remain w/ their slaveholders & to wait on the Freedmens Bureau to oversee things between the two groups.
It specifically says that the enslaved were not allowed to travel through public thoroughfares without a pass from their employers…who were their former slaveholders.
It calls out “idleness” (read that lazy) and officially outlaws contraband camps (see this link for more on that - https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/contraband-camps/).
Read through the entire order and see how their future was shaped from the very beginning. They were to remain subjugated to people who literally listed them next to featherbeds and horses to capture their monetary value.
They were supposed to “wait” for help, from folks who may have viewed them exactly like the folks who enslaved them.
This is what freedom looked like right after it was “granted.” It was beyond conditional.
It’s almost like we never had a chance.
But…we made our chance.
This is what freedom looked like right after it was “granted.” It was beyond conditional.
It’s almost like we never had a chance.
But…we made our chance.