Juneteenth, the Fourteenth and Truth

Juneteenth, the Fourteenth and Truth

by 06/22/2021

Demetrius Haddock is Chair of the River Jordan Council on African American Heritage

On a late spring day in June of 1865, a set of events in Texas began that spread quickly across the state and then gained official recognition from local and state governments nationwide. Recently, the United States Senate passed a bill to make Juneteenth a national holiday. As we celebrate this holiday, it must be a day of bold truth-telling. The legacy of this holiday must include the exploration of local and state histories to honor the memories of those who worked for the liberation of four million Americans of African descent and those who inspired change.

On March 25th of 2020, a Fayetteville native, George Floyd, had his life taken as the world watched. His murder, aired and re-aired, viewed, and reviewed again and again, stirred deep emotions and tapped our human conscience nationally and internationally. The only word that truly defines what the world observed that day was derived from the name of a Virginia planter and justice of the peace who used extra-legal methods to punish “Tories” by hanging, shooting and whipping during the American Revolution, Charles Lynch. Denied his day in court, George Floyd, based on the alleged crime, would have never received the death penalty. His murder was the result of lawlessness and abuse of power.

During the time period that birthed Juneteenth, Fayetteville had another son who never saw his day in court, Archibald Beebe. His descendants have been on a mission to learn all that they can about their relative whose story was little known for so long. Unlike George Floyd and many others today, “Archie,” as he was known and as his family today lovingly calls him, lived through the transition from enslavement to liberation. He was able to see first-hand the hopes and aspirations fueled by the Second American Revolution – the Civil War & Constitutional Amendments during the Reconstruction period that followed.

Since the days immediately following the Civil War, most Black people held the title freedmen; however, there was not much respect for their freedom among the former enslavers and enforcers/patrollers of enslavement. The primary deterrent against taking the life of enslaved Blacks was having to compensate the enslaver for their “monetary” loss. After the war and the end of legal enslavement, that deterrent was primarily gone and the taking of Black lives was too often deemed or made to appear inconsequential.

When accused of “attempting” to rape a local prominent White woman, Archie did not flee for his life; he faced the accusation head on. Taken into custody, he should have been safe to have his day in court; however, the lawlessness – that lack of respect for American ideals, the same spirit that fueled war against the United States and took the lives of nearly three quarters of a million Americans, took control and took Archie’s life on February 11, 1867 – in broad daylight – before a crowd of onlookers – with a bullet to the back of his head – at point blank range.

This tragedy happened at the Market House in Fayetteville, NC and similar to George Floyd’s public “knee on the neck” murder, it pricked the conscience of the community. With the Southern States divided into military districts, Maj. Gen. D.E. Sickle of the Second Military District [Charleston, S.C.] issued Special Order 55 which placed Cumberland County under military commission and ordered the Fayetteville Mayor, town commissioners, municipal officials, magistrates and town constables removed from office. Judicial precedent was set when Black men testified against the White men who conspired and the one who ultimately killed Archie. These White men had their day in court, but Archie did not. The Black men who testified helped to convict the man who pulled the trigger and killed Archie. His killer was sentenced to death by hanging but was instead imprisoned.

After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson became the President and he issued a pardon to Archie’s killer. This man then returned to Fayetteville and was celebrated with a parade. The man who pulled the trigger was richly rewarded with land, title and prestige. Are these the types of actions we support today? Are we the type of people to praise and reward lawlessness and/or abuse of power? Are we the type simply to ignore it?

The Beebe family wants their ancestor’s story to be documented. It was the only recorded “outrage” of a White person against a Black person in Fayetteville during the Congressional hearings on the subject following the war. The family is working diligently to uncover as much about the life of Archie as they can.

Archie Beebe and George Floyd, with their murders over a century and a half apart, are both examples of America’s long struggle to enforce the 1868 Fourteenth Amendment and its Equal Protection Clause particularly. As we celebrate Juneteenth this year, let us all revisit the Fourteenth Amendment and reaffirm its message of equality for America. As the Beebe family is doing, let us all explore our family histories and genealogy to learn our legacies more fully. The only gateway to breaking destructive cycles from the past and forging a future that is firmly rooted in the written ideals of our nation is truth. Let Juneteenth be about the Fourteenth Amendment and historical truth.

Demetrius Haddock is Chair of the River Jordan Council on African American Heritage which is dedicated to the accurate and holistic telling of our American past with emphasis on oft-omitted African American stories. The Beebe family may be contacted at [email protected] to learn more or share relevant information for their search.

Related article: “Tragic story illustrates tumult after Civil War” January 21, 1990 by Pat Reese. Reprinted July 20, 2018.

https://www.fayobserver.com/news/20180720/from-fayetteville-observer-archives-tragic-story-illustrates-tumult-after-civil-war

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