Juneteenth, Justice, and a Counterfeit Bill Case
Posted in Atlanta,Negligent Security on June 13, 2021
After 200 years, Juneteenth has become as celebrated as July 4th in the African American community. Attorney Rod Dixon gives a brief history of the observance and discusses what this day means to the law and Atlanta. He also describes a case where our client was arrested for allegedly trying to spend a counterfeit $100 bill. The similarities to the George Floyd case are startling, with results more aligned with how justice should be served.
Transcript from Episode 1, For Justice’s Sake Podcast:
Rod Dixon
Juneteenth is a holiday of growing importance in the United States, growing importance to the African American community. It has very interesting origins. Abraham Lincoln back in 1862, signed the Emancipation Proclamation and that basically freed the slaves. Unfortunately, the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation could not be felt equally across the country, in part because of distance. They didn’t live in the time of the internet where information was transferred instantaneously. And so parts of the country that were further away from the east coast, it took time for them to get that information.
Rod Dixon
Also, though, the Emancipation Proclamation and the enforcement of it suffered because in the south, they had not decided that slaves should be free. And so the Emancipation Proclamation and its enforcement relied upon the Union troops who were present in those states to actually enforce the freedom that Abraham Lincoln said the slaves should have.
Rod Dixon
Now if we go further west, Texas, that is where Juneteenth originated. So a couple years after Abe Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Texas still was not recognized. And in Texas at the time, I think there are about 250,000 slaves who did not know that they were free by Abraham Lincoln. What they did know they couldn’t exercise their freedom because Texas was still a slave state that was still in rebellion. And we did not have enough new troops in Texas to enforce the emancipation.
Rod Dixon
So the war ends in 1865, the Civil War, of course. And after that the union was able to send about 2000 troops that entered Texas through Galveston. A Union General went to Texas on June 2, 1865 and with his presence there, along with the 2000 Union troops, the stage was set to actually emancipate the slaves and to enforce that emancipation. So on June 19, this Union General stood in the middle of Galveston, Texas, and read out an order proclaiming the freedom of the slaves.
Rod Dixon
Interestingly, he told the slaves that they were free, but that they should remain where they were and continue to work for wages. But in any event, that is the origin of Juneteenth, June 19, 1865. After that, and it started going from year after year, celebrations ensued, the first in Galveston, Texas. And those celebrations continued year after year. There were some up years and some down years, but that’s how Juneteeth became a holiday in the United States. And that’s how it became a significant date for the African American community. We can call it the African American Independence Day.
Renee Cooper
In your opinion, how does Juneteenth relate to the law?
Rod Dixon
To me, Juneteenth is about justice. And the vehicle for justice, I think in this country and in any society is the law. Let me see if I can illustrate that. And I’ll use a case that I worked on at some point in the past to help illustration.
Rod Dixon
I once represented a man who went into a Kroger with $100 bill and Kroger, the employee there, tested this bill with one of those ink pens, or one of those pens that is supposed to detect a fraudulent or counterfeit bill. And the pen indicated that that bill was in fact fraudulent. So they call the police and my client was arrested. My client was an African American man in this environment where the management at the store, all White, and they had the police come to arrest him for having what they call a counterfeit bill.
Rod Dixon
He spent 24 hours in jail and in that time, the authorities realized that the bill was actually genuine. It was just an older bill on which those pens did not work. And so they release my client. We eventually went to trial on a case and secured a half-million dollar verdict for my client for having to go through the indignity of being arrested and put in jail for 24 hours.
Rod Dixon
Now, I think about that. And I think about George Floyd, which are obviously two very different situations that started in very similar ways. George Floyd went to a store with a $20 bill that the store workers claim was fake, and they called the police. And we all know what happened after that. Fortunately, my client situation did not go wrong in that way, but I’m reminded of how the law and justice interrelate and how important these things are.
Rod Dixon
So when I looked at George Floyd, and I’m looking at my client, and I looked at Juneteenth, I realize that justice to African Americans in this country has depended upon the law. Understanding and not being naive that under the law we had slavery. And under the law, there was Jim Crow. But the law can be corrupted if it’s handled by corrupt people with corrupt intent. Where the law is handled by folks who have the right intent, it is the pathway to justice. And so when we look at the law, we know that the law freed the slaves. We know that the law ended Jim Crow. We know that the law convicted the officer who killed George Floyd. So when I think of Juneteenth, in the context of what I do for a living, I think of it as not only a celebration for the emancipation of slavery, but a celebration of how the law can effectuate justice for not just African Americans, but for all people.
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Renee Cooper
How were you feeling during the Atlanta protests in 2020?
Rod Dixon
A wide range of emotions. One of them was the continued anger that existed, knowing what happened to Mr. Floyd and how it happened. And the fact that this police officer felt bold enough to take this man’s life on camera, knowing that there were people there watching, and also having to realize that this video would be shared around the world. That’s something that was enraging to me. And also quite disappointing when we talk about what it means to be a human. Not just for George Floyd, and what his humanity, meant, but the fact that this officer displayed such a supreme lack of humanity.
Rod Dixon
But then also the protests, gave me hope, because it reminded me that we as African Americans will always do what we can, in a collective, to fight for justice for ourselves. But then what we also saw, not just in Atlanta, but around the world, were people who were not African American, standing up with us in loud and sustained protests, because they knew that as humans, we cannot act that way. So it was encouraging from that standpoint, and I think there was a lot for us to celebrate out of that pain.
Renee Cooper
Okay, so lastly, we have a new billboards going up, it has hashtag #DixonFlex on it, and it has an emoji that you are very fond of. Can you tell us about why we’re choosing that graphic?
Rod Dixon
So we have that flex emoji that we all see on our emoji screens, followed by the 100 that’s underlined twice. And that’s significant for me, to me, because it symbolizes the strength that we have in our lives to do any number of things. And it also with the 100 symbolizes that we are always strong together when we flex that strength together and so that billboards going up on Campcreek shortly, Campcreek Parkway, and hopefully it will resonate.
Renee Cooper
If you ever are texting to you probably will use that emoji. I hear that its your favorite emoji.
Rod Dixon
Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes, you will see that emoji from me a lot!
Renee Cooper
Right. Well Awesome. Thanks so much!
Renee Cooper
Thank you.
Renee Cooper
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