Celebrations and protests will mark a unique Juneteenth for Delaware

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the scope of the Emancipation Proclamation, which applied only to Confederate states.  

When it comes to Juneteenth this year, Wilmington's Chandra Pitts is skipping the celebrations.

There's work to do.

Along with 60 others from Wilmington, she will travel to Washington, D.C., for the second time in a month to take part in an organized protest against racial injustice and inequality.

JUNETEENTH 2020:Carney closes state offices in honor of Juneteenth

With the entire country consumed by protests sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, this is a moment of action for many.

"It's hard to celebrate freedom at a time like this because we're just not free," says Pitts, president and CEO of Wilmington-based One Village Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to helping children in marginalized communities.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Liberation Day, is celebrated June 19 commemorating the day in 1865 when the Emancipation Proclamation was read in Galveston, Texas, announcing all slaves in the state were free.

It came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the proclamation, which had formally freed the slaves in rebellious states. Many slave owners didn't comply and enforcement was slow to reach Texas.

Celebrating (and taking action) in Delaware

This year marks the 26th anniversary of the formation of the Delaware Juneteenth Association, which has led Juneteenth celebrations ever since.

Due to coronavirus, things will be different this year. The large-scale celebrations featuring the annual Miss Juneteenth Pageant are mostly missing for 2020.

"When coronavirus came along, we knew we had to still do something," says Delaware Juneteenth Association treasurer and co-founder Sandy Clark, whose group has already hosted several online workshops leading up to this weekend.

The association has a trio of events slated, starting Friday with a Juneteenth observance and virtual panel discussion moderated by Adrienne Bey and hosted by Rev. Pearl Scott Johnson of Newport-area Simpson United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. Register for the free online-only event at delawarejuneteenth.org.

And then on Saturday, they will join a peaceful protest march in support of Black Lives Matter at 11 a.m. beginning at Wilmington's Rodney Square. A march will begin at noon to Compton Park at Seventh and Lombard streets.

Following the march, a Juneteenth caravan of decorated cars will help celebrate the holiday at Christina Park at Fourth and Church streets starting at noon. All are invited to participate. Go to facebook.com/delawarejuneteenthassociation for details.

More:Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May opens virtually on Juneteenth

Downstate, the celebration will be more traditional.

A Juneteenth community celebration will be held at William Henry Middle School (65 Carver Rd.) from noon to 6 p.m. The event will include music, games, Black-owned vendors, face painting, voter registration, community speakers, a basketball tournament and free food and drinks with a canned food donation. Go to facebook.com/kentjuneteenth for details.

They've been fighting for years, and see emerging civil rights movement as validation

Association co-founder and president Sylvia Harris has been watching the protests that have not only surfaced in the United States, but also spread across the world.

While her heart is hurting following the recent deaths of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and others, that same heart has been able to feel other emotions creep in, too.

"It has warmed our hearts to see that the work has not been in vain. It makes us feel very, very good about the work that we've done," Harris says. "The fact that racism and race relations are now in the front — no one can ever say they didn't know again."

MORE:Will the Delaware General Assembly grant protesters' wishes to change policing laws?

For her part, Clark believes the state shutdowns due to coronavirus forced Americans to watch the videotaped killings and reexamine an issue that has plagued the United States from its very beginning.

"Thank you Jesus. He had to shut everything down to make people listen to what we're trying to say," Clark says with a laugh.

Both Clark and Harris see this as a different movement with a different feel, mostly due to the tenacity of the youngest protesters.

They will not stand for compromises on basic principle or allow watered-down legislation that doesn't fix problems, according to Harris: "They will march until the change comes, no matter what it takes."

Longtime Wilmington civil rights activist Harmon Carey, founder and executive director of the Afro-American Historical Society, agrees about the newest generation of protesters.

While he still wrestles with the reasons for prejudice, he is uplifted by what he sees in the streets of all 50 states: protesters of all races and ages standing up for equality and against police brutality.

"Young white people are beginning to see what is really going on and it lifts my spirits when I look and see white people joining with us. It gives me reason to hope. They are seeing what we have seen for many years and they are locking arms with us," says Carey, 83, a retired social worker whose civil rights work dates back to the late '50s.

He knows much work remains. Still, that's not what consumes his mind. His dominating thoughts on the matter focus on the cause of prejudice: intolerance.

"I just keep asking myself, 'Why? Why is it that there is so much hate toward Black people? Why? What is it that we have done that warrants this level of hate from certain sectors of the white community?" says Carey, who finds himself on the brink of tears trying to understand. "The Lord made me Black. So I should be hated because the Almighty made me Black? It's just so frustrating to get to the answer to that."

He knows the protesters, no matter their race, have something that he and other older leaders don't: youthful commitment, interest and energy. And his faith is in them.

Even so, that has not yet changed the systemic racism he says still runs rampant in the country.

Racism doesn't only come in the form of a Ku Klux Klan hood. It also can come in everyday interactions due to unconscious bias or ingrained racial stereotypes.

As Bob Dylan once sang, "You can hurt someone and not even know it."

"Racism exists like coronavirus for some: asymptomatic. People say and do things that are racist, but they are totally unaware," he says. "If they can't walk in your shoes, it's hard for people to understand."

A state holiday?

On Tuesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced his plan to make Juneteenth an official state holiday, making it a paid holiday for state workers.

On the same day, Gov. John Carney was asked by Delaware Online/The News Journal at a news conference about making Juneteenth an official holiday in Delaware. He kept the door open for the same to happen here.

"It is something that we're looking it. It is already recognized in a ceremonial kind of way. So we're thinking about ways to make it a really meaningful holiday," he said.

More:After statues come down, Delaware Blue Coats will reexamine Caesar Rodney logo

Two days later, on Thursday morning, Carney announced the change he had hinted at: state offices will close Friday, June 19 in recognition of the holiday.

The move only covers the holiday for this year. Officials say Carney will speak with members of the General Assembly about making it a permanent state holiday through legislation.

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki followed suit hours after Carney's announcement and will close government offices Friday in honor of Juneteenth.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced this week that Juneteenth would be a state holiday this year and promised a push to make it permanent. Other states that officially recognize Juneteenth include Texas, which was the first state to do so in 1980.

Efforts have failed in the past to make it a federal holiday nationwide.

Protesting with Pitts

Chandra Pitts' trip to Washington, D.C., this weekend to march in support of the Movement For Black Lives' Six Nineteen initiative shouldn't surprise anyone.

Before moving to Wilmington 20 years ago and officially forming One Village Alliance about 10 years later, she would regularly visit the city because her parents Ibis and Genny founded the People's Festival, an annual peace concert dedicated to Marley, the reggae icon and family friend who once lived in the city.

"I was very in tune with social justice and had a passion to make life better for children in particular," says Pitts, who was drawn to Wilmington by its arts and culture communities.

And while some may be taking time to celebrate how far the civil rights cause has come, she is intensely focused on making meaningful change — this year especially. In recent weeks she has joined and spoken at protests everywhere from Wilmington and Dover to The White House. 

Taking down statues of slave owners is good, she says. So is making Juneteenth a state holiday. But she is seeking more structural reform.

And Pitts, like the millions marching with her, says she isn't going to stop until it's a reality. Injustices in the economy, education, health care, housing and many other areas where people of color are oppressed need to be faced and cut out, she says.

"Not to take anything away from the celebration, but we continue to be in protest. This is not a time of celebration. This is a time for action," Pitts says. "We have survived so much, but we have to demand so much more than just surviving. We're in a real fight for our lives. Not just Black people, but humanity."

Meredith Newman contributed to this report. Got a tip? Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

DELAWARE JUNETEENTH EVENTS

Across the state, Juneteenth will be celebrated. Here are some of the events this weekend.

Friday, June 19, 11 a.m. — Gov. John Carney will host a live discussion with Reba Hollingsworth, vice chairwoman of the Delaware Heritage Commission; local historian Sylvester Woolford; Donna Patterson, chairwoman of the Department of History, Political Science and Philosophy at Delaware State University; and David Young, executive director of the Delaware Historical Society. Watch it at de.gov/live.

Friday, June 19, noon to 6 p.m. —  A Juneteenth community celebration will be held at William Henry Middle School (65 Carver Rd., Dover). The event will include music, free food and drinks with a canned food donation, games, Black-owned vendors, face painting, voter registration, community speakers and a basketball tournament. Go to facebook.com/kentjuneteenth for details.

Friday, June 19, 7 p.m. — A Juneteenth observance and virtual panel discussion will be moderated by Adrienne Bey and hosted by Newport-area Simpson United Methodist Church's Rev. Pearl Scott Johnson. Register for the free online-only event at delawarejuneteenth.org.

Saturday, June 20, 11 a.m. — A Juneteenth peaceful protest rally will begin at Wilmington's Rodney Square. A march will begin at noon to Seventh and Lombard streets.

Saturday, June 20, noon — A Juneteenth caravan of decorated cars will help celebrate the holiday at Christina Park at Fourth and Church streets. All are invited to participate. Go to facebook.com/delawarejuneteenthassociation for details.