Every year in the middle of June, I will hear the occasional gripe about yet another federal holiday shutting down banks, post offices, and otherwise inconveniencing our day. Maybe some of our readers got the day off of work, but even they are wondering “What’s the point of having one Wednesday off in the middle of the week, just to get back to work tomorrow?”

But I would like to share some of the history of Juneteenth with you, and try to cast the date in a new light. I promise, it’s not just another excuse for government officials to take a day off!

January 1, 1863, was emancipation day. Union soldiers spread the news at plantations and cities in Confederate territory. The areas they had access to, that is. Other areas, notably Texas, were held so closely under Confederate control that the Union soldiers could not deliver the news. For the enslaved people in these areas, freedom would not come for another two and a half years, on June 19 1865. 

This day has been celebrated by African American communities for the past 159 years, but in recent years it has begun to be recognized nation-wide. I think this is amazing. Since that day, no American has been legally enslaved ever again.

This country runs better when we solve for freedom. Nowadays, our social media flags any speech that might be controversial. We “cancel” celebrities for some off-color comment they made at 19. We fight and fight about what people should and should not be allowed to do. We forget that our freedom is not a gift granted to us by the government, but a right given by God to all his people - a right which can be thwarted or protected by us all. 

So let’s take a moment, even though the day has passed, to remember when all Americans finally had freedom. 

(Reporter’s note: Information about Juneteenth sourced from the National Museum of African American History and Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth)