Memorial Day and Black America’s Contribution

By Kariem Haqq
On May 1, 1865, nearly 10,000 people, mostly black ex-slaves and Union Colored Troops (including the Massachusetts 54th Infantry), along with white northern missionaries, gathered in Charleston, S.C. They gathered to honor and commemorate the valor of 257 dead Union soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war in the outdoor prison at the Charleston Race Course (Washington Race Course and Jockey Club). Also included in the gathering were 3,000 black school children newly enrolled in Freedmen’s schools. The bodies were dug up out of a mass grave behind the grandstand about two weeks prior. Black people worked on the bodies to prepare them for a proper burial as a gratitude for the dead soldiers fighting and dying for their freedom. They cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground and built an enclosure and an archway at the entrance labeled “Martyrs of the Race Course.” The ceremony included a parade, placing flowers on the burial field, prayer, and songs of praise (‘John Brown’s Body,’ ‘We’ll Rally around the Flag,’ the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’ spiritual hymns, etc.). Afterward, there was a picnic, speeches, and soldier drills. Years later, it would be called the “First Decoration Day.” It would be called “Decoration Day” for more than 100 years. This was due to Union General John Logan, commander-in-chief of a Union veterans’ organization called the Grand Army of the Republic. He issued a decree that established what was then named “Decoration Day” on May 5, 1868. He declared it “designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.”
In 1966, then-President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y. to be the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Then, in 1971 congress established “Memorial Day” as the official federal holiday to honor all Americans who have fallen in U.S. wars.
Although the Memorial Day celebration today honors all soldiers who died to defend America and establish freedom before and even after the Civil War, its origin is in the war fought to free black people from slavery in America. The Memorial Day Celebration was a direct result of the gratitude of former slaves, and this legacy should be perpetuated by all Americans, especially black Americans who were directly impacted by the courageous and sacrificial efforts of the soldiers, dead and alive. They helped to free black people from chattel bondage. The Memorial Day Celebration should be a special day of celebration for black America.
Today the site used is named Hampton Park after Confederate General Wade Hampton, who became S. Carolina’s governor following the Civil War.
On May 1, 1865, nearly 10,000 people, mostly black ex-slaves and Union Colored Troops (including the Massachusetts 54th Infantry), along with white northern missionaries, gathered in Charleston, S.C. They gathered to honor and commemorate the valor of 257 dead Union soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war in the outdoor prison at the Charleston Race Course (Washington Race Course and Jockey Club). Also included in the gathering were 3,000 black school children newly enrolled in Freedmen’s schools. The bodies were dug up out of a mass grave behind the grandstand about two weeks prior. Black people worked on the bodies to prepare them for a proper burial as a gratitude for the dead soldiers fighting and dying for their freedom. They cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground and built an enclosure and an archway at the entrance labeled “Martyrs of the Race Course.” The ceremony included a parade, placing flowers on the burial field, prayer, and songs of praise (‘John Brown’s Body,’ ‘We’ll Rally around the Flag,’ the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’ spiritual hymns, etc.). Afterward, there was a picnic, speeches, and soldier drills. Years later, it would be called the “First Decoration Day.” It would be called “Decoration Day” for more than 100 years. This was due to Union General John Logan, commander-in-chief of a Union veterans’ organization called the Grand Army of the Republic. He issued a decree that established what was then named “Decoration Day” on May 5, 1868. He declared it “designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.”
In 1966, then-President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y. to be the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Then, in 1971 congress established “Memorial Day” as the official federal holiday to honor all Americans who have fallen in U.S. wars.
Although the Memorial Day celebration today honors all soldiers who died to defend America and establish freedom before and even after the Civil War, its origin is in the war fought to free black people from slavery in America. The Memorial Day Celebration was a direct result of the gratitude of former slaves, and this legacy should be perpetuated by all Americans, especially black Americans who were directly impacted by the courageous and sacrificial efforts of the soldiers, dead and alive. They helped to free black people from chattel bondage. The Memorial Day Celebration should be a special day of celebration for black America.
Today the site used is named Hampton Park after Confederate General Wade Hampton, who became S. Carolina’s governor following the Civil War.

Kariem Haqq is an author and Founder of The 13th Amendment Freedom Week Movement.
Posted in History
Tagged with Kariem Haqq, Memorial Day, Union Colored Troops, Union Soldiers, Decoration Day, LBJ, 1971, Civil War, #freedomsjournalmagazine, Freedoms Journal Institute
Tagged with Kariem Haqq, Memorial Day, Union Colored Troops, Union Soldiers, Decoration Day, LBJ, 1971, Civil War, #freedomsjournalmagazine, Freedoms Journal Institute
Recent
Archive
2023
January
Dead People: Doubts About Reparations from a Proud MuttCartoon 12/30/22Cartoon 12/31/22Cartoon 01/01/23NBA Versus FreedomThe Death of Eternal Truths and the New PaganismCartoon 01/04/23Random New Year's ThoughtsCartoon 01/05/23Cartoon 01/06/23Cartoon 01/08/23COVID: Who Was Right?Cartoon 01/11/22Cartoon 01/09/23Cartoon 01/10/23Our Blundering, Intrusive GovernmentReining in Government Spending? Let's Get RealCartoon 01/12/23He had a DreamCartoon 01/13/23Cartoon 01/15/23Cartoon 01/17/23The Recycling ReligionRacial Reparations Solve NothingCartoon 01/18/23Black Man Dies Following His Arrest -- Examine the Media CoverageCartoon 01/19/23Cartoon 01/20/23Cartoon 01/22/23Cartoon 01/23/23Cartoon 01/24/23Cartoon 01/25/23Population PanicCartoon 01/26/23Obama Warns About the 'Raw Sewage' of Disinformation -- Ignores Democrats' Own GarbageWhite Privilege or Black Fathers - Part 1Cartoon 01/27/23Who's More Irrational -- The Religious or the Irreligious?Freedom’s Journal Institute is Preserving and Proclaiming Black Conservative ValuesCartoon 01/29/23Cartoon 01/30/23
February
cartoon 01/31/23A Surprising PoliticianWhen Black Police Officers Kill a Black Man, That's White SupremacyCartoon 02/1/23Racializing the Death of a Black Man by the Police, Part ICartoon 02/02/23White Privilege or Black Fathers - Part 2Cartoon 02/03/23Cartoon 02/05/23Cartoon 02/06/23White Privilege or Black Fathers - Part 3'Memphis is on fire': Police brutality? Yes! Police racism? No!Tyre Nichols’ Alleged Killers Already Broke The Law, So More Laws Aren’t The Answer — Accountability IsCartoon 02/07/23Cartoon 02/08/23White Privilege or Black Fathers - Part 4Mike Pompeo Versus LibertariansSatan Is So Hot Right NowRacializing the Death of a Black Man by the Police, Part 2Cartoon 02/09/23Cartoon 02/10/23Cartoon 02/12/23Cartoon 02/13/23Cartoon 02/14/23Young Americans Are Losing Their Minds. The Social Left Is to Blame.Bureaucrats Ban BettingCartoon 02/15/23Cartoon 02/16/23President Biden Claims GOP Wants to 'Sunset' Entitlements: What about Clinton, Obama and then-Sen. Biden?Cartoon 02/17/23Cartoon 02/19/23Cartoon 02/21/23Government's Dirty SecretCartoon 02/22/23Cartoon 02/20/23Joe Biden Turns the American Government Into Wokeness, Inc.Cartoon 02/23/23'Evil' Fox News Versus 'Trusted CNN,' Part 1Cartoon 02/24/23Cartoon 02/26/23Cartoon 02/27/23
March
Cartoon 02/28/23The Stupid ActThe Greatest Cover-up in Human HistoryCartoon 03/01/23Evil Fox News Versus 'Trusted CNN,' Part 2Cartoon 03/02/23Colorman Part 1Cartoon 03/05/23Cartoon 03/07/23Students Defend FreedomWhite Man Down: Frustration is Not RacismCartoon 03/09/23What We Weren't Shown About Jan. 6Cartoon 03/12/23Cartoon 03/13/23Better FlyingCartoon 03/15/23How To Crash the Economy, Big Government Style
No Comments