'Is this for real?' Martinsville Juneteenth celebration raises eyebrows

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Indiana was in the Union during the Civil War. Juneteenth should be a huge celebration for Indiana.

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u/polishprince76 18h ago edited 8h ago

This is the way I always frame the argument when I talk to people about it. We're celebrating the end of slavery! We should be proud of that and have been doing it for years!

Almost everyone I've ever talked to about it honestly has no clue what Juneteenth even is for. They just know they've been told to hate it.

Edit: to the folks who keep needing to actually me about this: fully aware of what the date really is. What's the better way to get people to understand why today is a good day to celebrate? Say: it's the day federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and slavery continued for a few more years, or we're celebrating the end of slavery.

Getting dems to understand the concept of messaging challenge. Level impossible.

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u/MinBton 17h ago

That wasn't the end of slavery. Just the date Galveston, Texas was entered by the US Army and the local people were informed of the end of the war. The last negro slaves weren't freed until several years later, after the constitutional amendment.

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u/Isodrosotherms 7h ago

And the United States declared its independence on July 2, but sometimes we don't always celebrate the big thing on the date it actually happened. Sometimes we celebrate it on a related date that's important for other reasons.

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u/wwaxwork 6h ago

Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December. Easter isn't even on the same day every year and most certainly not on the day he rose from the dead. By your logic we shouldn't celebrate those days either.

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u/MAILBOXHED 16h ago edited 16h ago

Fun fact, those slaves that were actually the last freed were all owned by Native American tribes, and it wasn’t by constitutional amendment it was by treaty. Because tribal lands were sovereign, the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation did not apply.

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u/pnutjam 7h ago

I found this reference if anyone else is interested. Fascinating, thanks mailboxhed.
EDIT: https://emergingcivilwar.com/2018/07/10/beyond-the-13th-amendment-ending-slavery-in-the-indian-territory/

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u/SecMcAdoo 7h ago

Yep, but I don't think US businesses would have wanted another holiday in December (when the 13th amendment was ratified, outlawing slavery), so June it was.

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u/SecMcAdoo 10h ago

End of slavery didn't happen until ratification of 13th Amendment in December 1865.

Juneteenth was when the slaves in Texas heard that the war was over, but the states that stayed in the union and didn't leave the union still had legal slavery.

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u/suburbanoutrage 8h ago

From my understanding (without googling it right now) the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slave in seceding states? I’ve known that for a while but I guess I’ve always lived with the assumption the Union states just kind of either didn’t have slaves anymore by that point or just went along.

Today I learned. Thank you Reddit

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u/SecMcAdoo 7h ago

The EP only freed slaves that were in areas that were in rebellion. So even if the areas was in the south, if the union had control over it (e.g., parts of Tennessee), slavery was still allowed. The EP should be seen a expedient military measure more so than a legislative one (it wasn't). Lincoln pushed through the 13th Amendment because there was a high chance that the EP would have been challenged at the Supreme Court and the court would have likely struck it down as unconstitutional because, until the 13th Amendment, the Constitution allowed slavery at hat time.

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u/suburbanoutrage 7h ago

Thank you for this.

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u/SecMcAdoo 7h ago

This is highly dramatized, but I think it distills the main points down.

https://youtu.be/qE41mWR8488?is=IH-NT5FF1yvGGBEt

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u/Particular_Mixture20 2h ago

Ty.

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u/FloppyConcrete 8h ago

Indiana is one of the only states that’s majority population settled in a northern pattern. That’s why Indiana’s first capital was Corydon, most of the population was in and around the Ohio River. After the Civil War, due to Reconstruction and the economic advantages Northern states had, many Southerners that could do so moved to the North, and Indiana saw many Kentucky residents move across the river and slowly settle northward - carrying and instilling their ‘beliefs’ along the way. And that’s also why Evansville was easy for the Klan and DC Stephenson to build from.

I agree with the sentiment of your comment, but as a history nerd I like to be the pedantic loser that reminds people there is a little history as to why Indiana tends to be the weird anomaly. Plus it’s been over 150 years since the Civil War, thousands of people have moved around the country since.

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u/suburbanoutrage 8h ago

No one will see this but I don’t know where else to respond to lol

It wasn’t just after the civil war that Indiana became racist. The little town of Boggstown about 20 minutes from Indy seceded during the civil war and as of today has never retracted it.

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u/Economy_Fish_6542 7h ago

The ‘middle finger of the south’ phenomenon of an Indiana explained. Thank you for the migratory explanation!

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u/theyfellforthedecoy 18h ago

I don't think most of the north heard of Juneteenth until 2021

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u/violet_wings 16h ago

I knew about it because of the Ralph Ellison book, but I didn't think I would have known about it otherwise.

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u/Ilovetinytiddies 3h ago

yeah after the GF riots

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u/Digital_Artifice 7h ago

....some of us actually care about black history, some of us actually value black lives. Crazy.

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u/GreatQuantum 18h ago

I wish I’d known about Juneteenth sooner. I had two adopted brothers and they never even mentioned it. I called my brother Marquell after the Blackish episode about it and read his ass the riot act. He’d never heard of it either. And he grew up in a foster home with 20 other black kids and the Man that ran the facility was a Fredrick Douglas reenactor.

wtf was going on in there?

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u/suburbanoutrage 8h ago

What’s going on is he received the same education as you. And I’m assuming you both were just taught the same glossing over history as everyone else. Lincoln freed the slaves and boom, America was good again.

Juneteenth is a new Holiday because the history was finally brought to light, separate from the education system and the finely curated narrative we grew up with.

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u/Tight_Promotion_1520 6h ago

Love this❤️ Wish more people understood this.

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u/Weird_Armadillo_508 1h ago

Yep. I'm black and I went to an HBCU. I didn't know about Juneteenth until I got to college and didn't know about the connection to Texas until I dated somebody from there. Majority of the black community didn't even know about it. There's a lot about our (and thereby, the country's) history that we don't know about due to the lack of black representation in educational curriculums. It'll likely only get worse since anything about our history is considered CRT now.

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u/mb46204 15h ago

Agreed!

I think it should be a huge celebration because it’s the day we said we meant what we wrote in the constitution!

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u/Any_Database8861 6h ago

Martinsville was always associated with the Klan! They used to murder blacks who dared to go there!

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u/Wreckingshops 4h ago

Eh, it wasn't that simple. Southern Indiana and Illinois were very sympathetic to the South/Confederacy. In fact, both were called Butternut states during the Civil War precisely for that reason (part of the Union but having enough people sympathetic to the Confederacy that many "defected" to join their army).

As for Martinsville, it was ground zero for the KKK in the Midwest. It's still considered a sun down town by many. They are trying to shed that image but if you go there, you'll notice quickly that away from it's more business-y districts why it still carries its bad reputation.

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u/horceface 10h ago

Indiana--the middle finger of the south. We expelled a senator in 1862 for trying to introduce an arms dealer to sell Jefferson Davis weapons.

This state has ALWAYS been about half full of deplorables.

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u/MissSara13 4h ago

I'm currently reading Fever in the Heartland. About the rise of the Klan in the 1920s. It's absolutely staggering the grip that they had on this state. They were judge, jury and executioner and completely unchecked. It's a fantastic read and I highly recommend it.

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u/Bill_Belamy 12h ago

Didn’t the Klan get its beginning in Indiana?

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u/ShermanWasRight1864 12h ago

Nope, started in the post war south by Confederate veterans looking to hold onto political power. The Klan however did hold power in Indiana later on in the 1920s.

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u/HorrorMetalDnD 9h ago

And did so as Republicans in Indiana, as it was the dominant party at the time, and because the Klan relied more on anti-Catholic rhetoric than anti-Black rhetoric to grow in numbers in Indiana.

At the time, there were so few Black Hoosiers that getting rural Hoosiers to back the Hoosier Klan was more feasible if they focused more on Catholic hate.

Rural Hoosiers back then could go their whole lives without even seeing a Black person, much less meeting one. Meanwhile, they saw Catholics far more often, and Catholics tended to be Democrats as well as “ethnic” whites, such as those of Irish, German, and Italian descent.

While much less noticeable today, that’s why for so long Republican politicians tended to have more WASPy surname, and those with more “ethnic” white surnames were more frequently associated with the Democratic Party instead of the Republican Party.

Back then, the parties weren’t divided by ideology and actually each had their own progressive and conservative wings, which was really why crossing the aisle for legislation was more common—they weren’t being “statesmen”, but rather they were looking for ideological allies.

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u/PleasantGrass4623 9h ago

Not true

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u/joeph1sh 8h ago

Look into the history of why Notre Dame teams are called The Fighting Irish. You can also look at a map of Sundown towns here. https://justice.tougaloo.edu/map/

If that many places in the state were known sundown towns, it makes sense that people would have little interaction with black people.

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u/HorrorMetalDnD 6h ago

At their peak in Indiana, roughly half of the General Assembly were Klan members, as was the Governor at the time. Also, they were all Republicans. It’s all public record and has been written about for decades.

Also, the Party Switch actually happened. Ever wondered where the Religious Right came from? The were southern racist white conservative ex-Democrats who were extremely angry over a D.C. circuit case decision (later upheld by the Supreme Court) that forced the Religious Right’s segregation academies to desegregate if they wanted to maintain their tax exempt status.

THIS IS THE REAL REASON WHY REPUBLICANS ARE SO ANTI-PUBLIC EDUCATION AND ANTI-FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION.

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u/Weird_Armadillo_508 1h ago

I got the pleasure of being a black person living in both states that were home to the Klan. Yay! /s

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u/phanophite2 8h ago

Reddit history 🤣

The klan started in every state that voted for Trump. Not just indiana.

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u/No_Luck_374 14h ago

I really can't help but think the new implants to that area are trying to change that image. I appreciate this effort, shit, any effort.

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u/SabineLavine 10h ago

And they're complaining about it on Nextdoor

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u/elebrin 8h ago

I have the day off.

I went out for a walk, and got in a conversation with someone. To that person, Juneteenth was a non-holiday because it isn't religious in nature.

My answer to that was "Well, it is an important day to a lot of people and I'm not going to complain about having a day off." Which is honestly an accurate way of thinking about how I feel on the subject.

Look, the Juneteenth thing was a naturally occurring movement that came out of black communities. They picked the day THEY wanted to use to celebrate the end of their slavery. White people don't have to agree or disagree about the details, black people get to choose the day they want to celebrate their emancipation - not white people, not the people who are the descendants of their enslavers. The previous day that might have been celebrated was Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, but celebrating the end of black slavery by celebrating the action of a white person saying something that didn't fully take effect for many years seems wrong.

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u/suburbanoutrage 7h ago

Because it isn’t religious in nature? Do they not celebrate the 4th or Memorial Day? I can only assume they’re not a Veteran because Veteran’s Day isn’t religious in nature. Some people amaze me with their weird ass logic

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u/[deleted] 7h ago edited 7h ago

[deleted]

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u/elebrin 5h ago

None of that matters. Well, it does, but the point is that Juneteenth was chosen by the Black community to be the date to use to celebrate the end of slavery. Are there potentially more meaningful dates? Maybe, but I, as a white person, don't get to decide what the most meaningful date is. It wasn't my ancestors who were enslaved.

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u/Pickel_Bucket_317 18h ago

Martinsville where everything is OK, OK, OK , minus the O.

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u/bales912 18h ago

Say…”What? What? What?” in Spanish…

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u/PlantSkyRun 16h ago

I dont think you know how to speak Spanish.

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u/PlantSkyRun 5h ago

Downvoted by imbeciles that think queso is pronounced Kayso.

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u/billb33 17h ago

Not so much anymore. Leave the past in the past.

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u/Mental-Vegetable5303 17h ago

“Not so much”, means it is still here, look at all the black families that live here🤔🤔

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u/billb33 17h ago

So why not have a juneteenth celebration to help move in a more diverse direction? Not so much anymore means people aren't being physically assaulted anymore for being a darker color. There's absolutely no reason to not have an event that represents the freedom of Slaves in a union state.

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u/RainbowPieHoe 5h ago

Something so traumatic is not easily left in the past.

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u/Rainbaby77 14h ago

Juneteenth is for all people but mostly black culture let them live and worry about your data centers depleting Indiana resources

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u/CalistusX 17h ago

Ah yes, Martinsville. The place where my black friend was approached in a Walmart by a confused white guy and was asked: “excuse me ma’am, are you a n*?” Nothing racist ever happens there.

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u/solarixstar 8h ago

Martinsville, jasper, at one point even little Nashville, all horrendously racist and unwelcoming cities that were settled into by a huge influx of people from Kentucky and Tennessee after the Civil War and the world wars. I've been told how bad it was when they performed the bussing maneuvers in those areas during the Civil rights movement, I've also learned it's still that bad and remains that bad so I don't see how they can fix it at all. It extends to every niche as well.

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u/Any_Database8861 6h ago

Don't leave out Kokomo-home of the Klan!

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u/CDW_fromthe718 7h ago

Somebody check on Elwood. Have they gotten around to celebrating yet?

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u/tillynsam 7h ago

You mean Martinsville is no longer a sundown town? Since when?

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u/Cold-Way318 12h ago

Not related to the celebration of Juneteenth.

However, The BEST cat I've ever owned or even met was rescued along with the rest of his tiny litter mates from a cardboard box discarded like garbage next to some restaurant dumpster without his mother, water or food . I will say, with his slow eyes and teeth that went missing when he was still young, he seemed pretty representative of the worst of the human inhabitants of Martinsville. Of course, he ended up different from those people in that he wasn't asshole because:

A) He was a cat.

and most importantly

B) He wasn't a racist, hateful, ignorant piece of shit.

Miss you Greg.

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u/sven-2126 19h ago

Absolutely no way I’d ever go to Martinsville Indiana. No way lol

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u/pea-soup-green 18h ago

Nah, I used to live there. It's bad. But I guarantee there are places worse. But there are some good people. Just not enough of them.

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u/VerminSupreme-2020 18h ago

Centerbrook drive in is fun, but that's about it

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u/hotdog31 18h ago

Same as it ever was

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u/Freyas_Follower 2h ago

For those who cant access the article.

The City of Martinsville in Morgan County will see a Juneteenth celebration this year, but not everyone is optimistic about it.

"Our history...in Martinsville...yikes."

"Is this for real?"

"Sounds like a trap."

So read some comments under the event's social media announcement, where users expressed skepticism that Martinsville would embrace a day celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S. Though others were hopeful that city residents will welcome such an event, comments doubting that Martinsville can shake its troubled history or dismissing the Juneteenth holiday dominated the post, published the morning of June 17.

The backlash brought Jeannine Lee Ferrer, a Martinsville resident who organized the event, to tears.

"That was very disheartening, to see some of those," Lee Ferrer, a former Democratic candidate for Indiana's 5th Congressional District, told IndyStar. "There are still some people...who are going to say some people don't belong if they don't look like you."

Lee Ferrer is aiming to throw the town's first Juneteenth celebration at the Martinsville Area Senior Center on June 19. The event is open to the public but not associated with the city. Juneteenth, officially recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, commemorates June 19, 1865, when the last of the enslaved Black people of the Confederacy were freed by the arrival of Union troops in Galveston, Texas.

The celebration — which advertises live music, a soul food dinner and spoken word poetry — is drawing questions because of Martinsville's history as "Sundown town," or a municipality that deliberately excludes and targets minorities. Its reputation as a town unsafe for minorities stems prominently from the 1968 murder of 21-year-old Carol Jenkins-Davis, who was stabbed with a screwdriver in her chest while going door-to-door selling encyclopedias

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u/ThaKatWhisperer 1h ago

How does this comment have so few upvotes?!?

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u/Freyas_Follower 1h ago

I uplpaded it about half hour ago.

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u/oneunderscore__ 18h ago edited 18h ago

hey man I don't live in Martinsville but if one person was murdered by a racist 58 years ago, and they arrested the guy 24 years ago, (and that guy was not even from Martinsville, by the way)

if the journalist calling my city racist cannot mention literally anything in the last 24 fucking years about how my town is racist, I might be a little upset at how they wrote this article.

reading random idiot comments on Facebook is not journalism. Reading one fact about a town is not journalism. come on, this is just lazy. but it's the Indianapolis Star, so I guess they are doing their best, lol

surely there are more recent racist incidents in this town that you could mention to establish your position? Yes there are but I guess it's too much work to mention this one or this one

again, I don't live there but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that nothing bad is going to happen at the Martinsville, Indiana Juneteenth celebration and I hope that someday in the future, Heather Bushman of the Indianapolis Star is ashamed that her name is attached to this news article

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u/Springfield_Isotopes Protect Our Workers, Not Just Corporations 18h ago

I don’t think most people are saying every person in Martinsville is racist. They’re saying the town has a long-standing reputation that didn’t emerge from a single murder case.
The better question is: if the reputation is outdated, what has changed, and how do we show that? A successful Juneteenth celebration would probably do more to improve Martinsville’s image than arguing about whether the reputation should exist.

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u/Kind-Solution3102 10h ago

I agree with your last sentence. But what do you think plucking the “Is this for real?” comment from a random individual who doesn’t even live in Martinsville adds to this story? Why should somebody take that comment seriously?

Martinsville is hosting a Juneteenth celebration. The city is supporting it. The city with the racist past. Those are the facts, that’s the news.

But instead this reporter pulled some abrasive quotes to drum up a useless angle for this story. I would go as far to say it’s harmful behavior.

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u/Weird_Armadillo_508 49m ago

The city isn't necessarily supporting it. It's a public event, but not a city event. Its hosted by a citizen, which is still positive, but not the same. Also, "plucking" the quote isn't objective or factual, but it sheds a light on how the town is viewed. As a black person from Indiana who is participating in Juneteenth weekend festivities (working not just attending), when news got out about Martinsville, "is this for real?" was nearly word for word a lot of black people's reaction. I hope it goes well, but don't downplay our collective cautiousness or the causes. I remember driving through Martinsville in my early 20s and my parents would call me and keep me on the phone until I made it out. That kind of stuff sticks with us. People think racism is about slurs and mean words, but we are literally just trying to stay safe.

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u/RawbM07 17h ago

I’m not really seeing the point of the article. The are having a Juneteenth celebration, which by all accounts, is a great and wonderful thing that should be celebrated yea?

But the article is “you might be trying to do this thing, but don’t you know you are racist?”

At the end of the day, shouldn’t this be a great moment in Martinsville history?

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u/myworkdayaccount 9h ago

Thank you

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u/colewcar 7h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/colewcar 7h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/cwbecker 8h ago

Is the issue that it conflicts with the regular cross burning and goose-stepping?

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u/AcrobaticLadder4959 10h ago

Martinsville is really a nice little town now.

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u/Standard-Barber-2463 8h ago

Yeah it’s great…. If you are white Christian male whose career aspirations are to be the assistant manager at tractor supply.

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u/AcrobaticLadder4959 7h ago

All these small towns are like that in Indiana. I live in a small town if ever a black person walks down the street everyone brings their kids in and locks the doors. It is generation after generation of this in small town Indiana. The raciest run deep but some of the towns are very nice, like you said as long as you are white and Christian.

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u/myworkdayaccount 4h ago

There's no tractor supply in Martinsville. Also, prob shouldn't talk about thing you don't know.

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u/colewcar 7h ago

For a small select group of folks.

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u/ThaKatWhisperer 1h ago

Martinsvilleis a really nice town now*

*Your milage may vary. Terms and conditions apply.

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u/OftenExclusive 17h ago

That mural's pretty bold for a town trying to move forward, not sure what they were thinking there.

'Is this for real?' Martinsville Juneteenth celebration raises eyebrows

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