Shelter Island Reporter Editorial: Juneteenth reminds us that freedom is everything

On June 19, 1865, Union troops reached Galveston, Texas, and informed its Black residents that they were a free people. The 246 years of slavery that began in Virginia in 1619 had finally come to an end with that news reaching the last of the enslaved people in America.

The Civil War had ended the previous April, and two years before that, in January 1863, President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing (on paper, anyway) enslaved people in the rebellious southern states, which included Texas.

It took more than two years for word of that proclamation to reach the 250,000 enslaved men, women and children across the Lone Star State. 

In Galveston, people joyfully celebrated their freedom, and the event became known as “Juneteenth.” In June 2021, 156 years later, President Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a national holiday.

The holiday we celebrated yesterday, June 19, is a day that honors freedom for all Americans. As we debate what “freedom” means in our country today, perhaps if we think about the enslaved people who learned from the Union Army that they were no longer owned by anyone, it will reinforce what’s good in our past. 

Freedom is attached to many aspects of life. In a State of the Union address in Jan. 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt denoted four essential freedoms: 

Freedom of speech and expression.

Freedom of worship.

Freedom from want.

Freedom from fear.

These American values seem under attack today, but then, every generation must fight to make these freedoms reality. 

Fear still exists in every community, especially these days, exacerbated by a government that often uses cruelty as a tactic. This must be fought and eliminated by good people taking a stand for justice and peace.