In a city founded by the son of a former slave, at a park that bears his name, more than 100 people gathered in downtown Centralia Saturday to acknowledge and celebrate the nation’s newest federally-recognized holiday, Juneteenth.
The crowd gathered at George Washington Park in unseasonably overcast, cold conditions to mark the day in 1865 when an order was issued in Galveston, Texas, announcing that all slaves were free under the Emancipation Proclamation.
The city worked alongside the nonprofit organizations Multiculturally Minded Lewis County and the Lewis County Dignity Guild to organize the event, which was held two days before the official holiday to provide an opportunity for more people to celebrate.
Following a welcome from Multiculturally Minded Lewis County representative Usha Sahadeva-Brooks and a land blessing and drumming conducted by Nooksack Tribe member Roderick Harris, Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston read a proclamation passed at last week’s city council meeting officially declaring June 19 as Juneteenth in Centralia.
Lewis County Dignity Guild board member Theodore Terry spoke about the origins of Juneteenth and how many slaves remained in bondage in neutral states such as Texas and Kentucky for more than two years after the Civil War’s end. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation was fully enforced nationwide, freed slaves and their descendants were still considered less than human in many regions of America.
“It would take nearly another century before the Black community would have the right to vote and even exist in society amongst white Americans without officially being considered ‘lesser’ or ‘other,’” Terry said. “It would be far longer before unofficially that changed at all. At some places, in the depths of the south, it hasn’t, still to this day.”
Local historian and volunteer Heather Beaird shared the story of George Washington, Centralia’s founding father and the freed son of a slave born in 1817. Despite being raised by adoptive white parents and living in mostly free states, with the exception of Missouri, Washington faced racial discrimination throughout his life.
“We like to pretend that the Pacific Northwest has never had a lot of racial issues because we were never actually a slave state. But Oregon, the territory and when they (applied) to become a state, did not allow Black people to settle there,” Beaird said. “And if they were found to have settled there and remained after six months, there were laws on the books that said they could be whipped publicly in increasing lashes for every six months that they stayed.”
Washington’s adoptive parents, the Cochrans, even had to circulate a petition throughout the area, getting signatures from some of the other first families in the region, such as the Fords — for whom Centralia’s Fords Prairie is named — to allow Washington to be a state resident with all rights and responsibilities except for the ability to hold public office.
Despite facing racial discrimination throughout his life, the devoutly Christian Washington remained loving and generous to even those who hated him.
He survived an attempt on his life when someone swapped his bedside wine with carbolic acid but refused to name a suspect, saying only he knew of people in town who wanted him dead.
Washington is said to have cared for everyone in Centralia, no matter who they were or where they came from. He donated land for the church he helped build, and gave many employment while his wife, Mary Jane, would also teach household skills to those without them. During tough economic times, he went to Portland and bought food and supplies by the ton to distribute to those in need in Centralia.
When a new family with a racist father moved in next door and put up a fence so he didn’t have to see Washington and his family, he still let his kids play with the new neighbor’s kids, who put up a ladder to get over the fence their father put up. Washington ended up befriending the father and getting him to take the fence down.
He voluntarily left the church he helped found after new congregation members refused to attend alongside Washington due to the color of his skin.
“This is grace at its highest. This is living your religion at its highest. He believed that no matter who you were or where you came from, once you were in Centerville, you were one of his townspeople,” Beaird said. “As we’re celebrating Juneteenth and as we’re celebrating the freedoms that so many of us enjoy now, let’s remember that community is what it’s about.”
Rev. Golden Neal, Rochester United Methodist Church minister and youth pastor, spoke about facing reminders of slavery such as the Confederate battle flag and being told “Black people have thicker bones” after struggling with swimming but still getting a life-saving certificate.
“In reality, my swimming skills would have developed if I had access to a pool or swam on a regular basis,” Neal said.
While working for Boeing, he said he was passed over for promotion by his supervisor repeatedly despite working overtime, managing projects successfully and training new employees.
“I would go home with blisters on my feet while he promoted my trainees above me. And he would send them off on international trips, but not me,” Neal said. “I had a college degree in manufacturing, and he promoted his next-door neighbor, who was mowing lawns for a living, over me.”
He added while things have improved, he still faces racial discrimination to this day and believes only racial education can repair things.
Jim McCully of Multiculturally Minded Lewis County ended the event by thanking the speakers for their words and the help of both the City of Centralia and Lewis County Diginity Guild. He reminded everyone while America has come far in terms of racial equality, there is still a lot of work to do.
He added it isn’t just in the south where racial bias still exists. McCully said there are areas in the Pacific Northwest where systematic racism still goes unchecked. White supremacists exist and are active, he said, as evidenced by a protest conducted by the Evergreen Active Club attempting to disrupt Centralia’s Pride celebration the weekend before.
While there were concerns those protesters would also attempt to disrupt Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration, none showed up during the ceremony.
“Don’t let these things discourage you. When you see that things are unjust, speak up and speak out. It’s like having a garden that needs to be tended with loving care and respect,” McCully said. “Without those qualities, the weeds of chaos will take over.”
Food for the event was provided free of charge to attendees by Jerk An Tingz authentic Jamaican food from Olympia.
