Juneteenth has been a federal holiday since 2021; forward-thinking organizations began marking it in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops. One, Derek Chauvin, shoved his knee to Floyd’s throat for nearly 10 minutes, while his colleagues watched.
If you’re unclear
about Juneteenth, it commemorates the day in 1865 when news arrived in
Galveston with Union troops that the end of the War Between the States meant
emancipation for slaves across the country. The Emancipation Proclamation,
which the victory at Antietam in September of 1862 made possible, outlawed
slavery in all territories then in rebellion against the United States.
However, as you might imagine, the Confederates basically said, “Yeah, and?”
and got on with their slaving business for another two years. Two months after
the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, the “and”
question was answered in Texas.
We all know that
we have yet to fulfill the promise of emancipation; for that matter, we have
yet to fulfill the ideals of a more perfect union, equal justice, domestic
tranquility, general welfare and the blessings of liberty. But Juneteenth
reminds us that, even when we can’t see the full arc of the moral universe, we
feel it in our consciences and we are obligated to do our part to ensure that
it bends toward justice.
For that reason, Republicans up and down the spectrum are
grumbling and scuffing their toes in the dirt (as they do on Martin Luther King,
Jr. Day), pissed off at the reminder that they actually lost that war and that
the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution exist.
(Even if SCOTUS can’t seem to find them.)
However, those of us with a working conscience and a moral compass that isn’t permanently stuck on terror-fueled racism can take a few moments today to consider how emancipation enriches everyone, because humanity is not actually a zero-sum game.
©2024 Bas Bleu
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