Experence

 As I sat down to begin writing this month's blog entry, it was June 19th.  This is the first year that this day is a National Holiday in the United States.  This day has been called Juneteenth for many years, but I must admit that even though I studied history in college, the idea of Juneteenth and what it represented never made it into any of the lectures I heard or the textbooks I read.  As a result, when I taught American History, my students never heard of Juneteeth. 

Here is an explanation that I recently read..."On June 19, 1865, U.S. Army Major General Gordon Granger traveled to Galveston, Texas, to announce that slavery had ended. At the time, many enslaved African Americans were unaware that Congress had passed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, months earlier. The day of Granger's announcement is now known as "Juneteenth," "Emancipation Day" and "Juneteenth Independence Day.""

For far too long, the reality of slavery and the resulting effect on people of color in our country has been downplayed or totally ignored.  

As one explores Holy Scripture, we see that this concept of enslaving people and discrimination has been a sad part of life for thousands of years.  When will it end?  I don't have an answer to that question. but I pray that starting today, real efforts and commitments will be made by more and more people to examine their own attitudes and actions so that all people will be treated in the way that Jesus has taught us.