Thursday, June 19, 2008

Juneteenth

Today is Juneteenth. Go to the website for more specific information, but basically, on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, the last African American slaves were officially recognized as free citizens. Now obviously, there were still problems. Many slaves at that time had no land, no possessions, no connections except those with their former owners, but many modern African Americans recognize this as their own Independence Day.

I just wanted to remind those of us here in the U.S. that while our constitution contains some worthy and high ideals, we have a long way to go before we reach them. I think we've made wonderful progress. I'm so glad I live now and didn't live then, but I still sometimes wonder how long it will be before we truly recognize the basic rights that we have claimed pertain to every human. Anyway, happy Juneteenth!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

i used to believe that we've made progress, but sometimes, i wonder.

http://www.utne.com/2008-07-01/Politics/People-for-Sale.aspx

Lessie said...

Sigh. Yes, I didn't even mention the world wide slave trade. I wasn't thinking about it when I wrote the post. But you're right, as a global population, we're not even close to eradicating slavery.

jenntoo said...

Stopping by to say hello! i eventually responded to you on fmh with some advice that hopefully will be of help to your politcal org. Anyway, thanks for your excellent comments, and i'm finally going to blog...

Lessie said...

LJK, thanks for stopping by . . . but who are you again? I see that you saw me on fMh, but I'm not finding your comment. Sorry for my absent mindedness, I'm rather flaky like that.

Lessie said...

Thanks for stopping by, now that I know who you are. Sorry for the confusion. I did go to your blog. It is rather an addicting habit, isn't it? I'm excited to hear more from you.