Wednesday Word: Juneteenth
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . . – Declaration of Independence
In all such [new] territory the institution of negro slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by Congress . . . – Constitution of the Confederate States, Article IV, Section 3(3)
From April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865 (officially speaking), the United States engaged in a brutal civil war that tore the country apart and resulted in more US casualties than any other war. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in southern states were legally free.
Because the war was still being fought, and because mass communication was not yet a thing, it took awhile for news to make it into the deep south and westernmost parts of Texas. So it was that on June 19, 1865, 2-1/2 years after the Proclamation, approximately 2000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, TX, and announced to some 250,000 enslaved black people that they were, indeed, free. That day, June 19, came to be known as Juneteenth.
In order to understand the joy of Juneteenth, you must first come to terms with the horrors of slavery. And while we have far to go to live into the ideals that “all [people] are created equal,” that is certainly a far better goal than that of living into the goals of the CSA Constitution.
As Christians, we proclaim and live into the belief that all people are children of God. As Episcopalians, we proclaim and work “for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”
May we never forget the horrors and errors of our past, while always working to achieve God’s justice in the present. Juneteenth, as with the Resurrection, reminds us to never give up hope.
Blessings,
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