"JUNETEENTH AND THE MEANING OF AMERICA"

 “JUNETEENTH AND THE MEANING OF AMERICA”

The recent federal recognition of Juneteenth as a national holiday was a pleasant surprise, and as we approach the July 4 holiday, it is worthwhile considering the meaning of those two national holidays.  What does Juneteenth mean in the panorama of America?  What does it mean in dialogue with July 4th? First, a slight but important note – while “America” has come to mean North America, it originally referred to the “New World” of European explorers. It was named after an Italian merchant and explorer who understood that Columbus was mistaken in thinking that he had discovered a route to India.  For now, however, I’ll use “America” as the word for the USA.

The recognition of Juneteenth means that in one small way the equality of Black people is acknowledged, while at the same time acknowledging the terrible legacies of slavery and neo-slavery in our history.  It is no coincidence that many state legislatures are seeking to limit the teaching of the history of racism in our shared history.  They know that it is deep and profound, and once we go down that road, it will be difficult to go back.  The recognition of Juneteenth is a start on that road.  Many of us will celebrate the birth of our nation on this July 4 weekend, but the recognition of Juneteenth reminds us that one of the powerful seeds of our nation goes back into the 1500’s and especially 1619, when the first record of African people being brought here as slaves was found.  The 1619 Project of the New York Times is a reminder that the seeds of our nation are found in that year rather than in 1776.

The recognition of Juneteenth is a reminder of two of the most powerful forces in American history, forces that are opposed to one another.  One is the idea of equality, and the other is the idea of slavery and the white supremacy that undergirds it.  These have been warring ideas in American history, and over these next two weeks, I’ll take a brief look at each of them.  Today – the idea of equality.  Next week - the idea of slavery and white supremacy.  The idea of equality – the vision that all human beings are created with equal dignity – is a powerful one in American history.  It was born in Europe, but it found its deepest expression in the colonies of America.  This idea of equality is one of the great and unexpected gifts of the American experience.  It is a revolutionary idea, and it calls out to all structures -  class structures, racial categories,  gender categories – that their time is winding down, that a new way of looking sat ourselves and at one another is emerging in the world.  That way is the idea of equality, the idea that we are all created with equal dignity.  That way is the idea that the institutional and structural foundations of society should be reformed to reflect this radical idea.

There is no small irony that those who developed this idea of “equality” in American history meant it only for white males of property.  They meant it only to stand against the old, class structures of Europe, but this idea of equality is so strong that they could not contain it.  The very people who were enslaved as the living contradiction of equality – they heard this idea, and they believed that it applied to them.  The people whose land was stolen from them by Europeans in the very name of equality – they heard this idea and believed that it applied to them.  Women, long since seen as property of the white males – they heard it and believed that it applied to them.  People who loved people of the same gender, long penalized and persecuted because of whom they loved – they heard that it applied to them.  This list could go on and on, because the idea of equality undercuts so many repressive and oppressive categories of the world. It will continue to call out to people who are not yet recognized as people, as equal siblings in the world.

The idea of equality is so strong and so radical that the European founders immediately began to qualify it after it appeared in the Declaration of Independence in July, 1776.  The battle over it in the Constitution was huge and dramatic, and as we know, the idea of equality was erased from the Constitution, with Africans and Indigenous peoples being recognized as only 60% human.  It is why those on the right wing love the “originalist” theory of the Constitution – they know that it was “originally” meant for white men.  Even the primary author of the Declaration of Independence backed off from it, as he needed the woman held as his slave, Sally Hemmings, to be available to him on many levels.  

Yet, to use Maya Angelou’s powerful phrase, still the idea of equality rises.  It can’t be held back or controlled – it has arrived.  We white men hope to curtail its teaching in our schools and in our culture, but still it rises.  As we gather this weekend to celebrate this idea of equality, let us remember this dialogue between Juneteenth and July 4.  Let us remember these two weeks between June 19 and July 4, and may our future celebrations remember the tension and the possibilities between them.