That sharp-edged holiday that celebrates white people's deliberately delayed and grudging acknowledgment of laws, made by white people, requiring them to drop some of their/our pretense that they/we could treat fellow humans like domestic animals.
Juneteenth is not a black folk holiday, it is an American holiday.
Black people by law were freed from the scourge and vulgarity of enslavement.
White people too were freed from the bonds of enslaving their fellow human beings. Clearly the written laws and morals laws have yet to converge. But on this date that March towards freedom began.
When the words of that song: My country tis of thee sweet land of liberty of thee I sing”, no longer ring hollow, but not yet loudly enough.
So all of us, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, new immigrant or old. This is THE holiday that calls us to nationhood.
The subsequent delay in freedom, let alone equality? Juneteenth is both a celebration and a grim reminder of just how long the movement toward that arc of the moral universe is.
I was just outside having coffee when my neighbor came out on her way to work
She always has a smile on her face but when I wished her a happy Juneteenth her smile actually got bigger
Made my day
Happy Juneteenth!
That sharp-edged holiday that celebrates white people's deliberately delayed and grudging acknowledgment of laws, made by white people, requiring them to drop some of their/our pretense that they/we could treat fellow humans like domestic animals.
Juneteenth is not a black folk holiday, it is an American holiday.
Black people by law were freed from the scourge and vulgarity of enslavement.
White people too were freed from the bonds of enslaving their fellow human beings. Clearly the written laws and morals laws have yet to converge. But on this date that March towards freedom began.
When the words of that song: My country tis of thee sweet land of liberty of thee I sing”, no longer ring hollow, but not yet loudly enough.
So all of us, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, new immigrant or old. This is THE holiday that calls us to nationhood.
Thank you, Deacon.
While part of the reason for the "delayed" news may have been a lack of Union troops in Texas, that's only one part (and a theoretical part at that). Certainly the white population of Texas knew, Union soldiers notwithstanding - only the enslaved people did not. Somewhat long but interesting academic read here https://www.pvamu.edu/tiphc/research-projects/juneteenth-the-emancipation-proclamation-freedom-realized-and-delayed/
The subsequent delay in freedom, let alone equality? Juneteenth is both a celebration and a grim reminder of just how long the movement toward that arc of the moral universe is.
Thank you for that link. And yes, news traveled faster than the people who were enslaved experienced.
What YOU said. Amen.