What Is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth—a portmanteau of June and nineteenth—is a federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas.
The History of Juneteenth
Though slavery ended in different states across the country at different times, in January 1865, Congress proposed the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which called for the nationwide abolition of slavery. By June of that same year, almost all of the enslaved population had been freed, either by the Union Army victory or by state abolition laws.
The earliest celebrations of Juneteenth date back to 1866. Most of them were gatherings hosted by local churches in Texas, but celebrations among freed African-Americans quickly spread across the south.
Juneteenth was officially recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when the 117th U.S. Congress enacted and then-President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.
Why Is Juneteenth Important?
Time and time again throughout the Bible, we see God’s people being called to remember their history. Deuteronomy 32:7 says, “Remember the days of long ago; think about the generations past. Ask your father, and he will inform you. Inquire of your elders, and they will tell you” (NLT). Through the regular observance of communion, we also remember the cross and what Jesus did to atone for our sins. Remembering where we came from is a crucial part of the human experience. It reminds us that God is always faithful and always good, even when people are not.
Division, disunity, and mistreatment were never part of God’s good design for His creation. He is grieved every time human beings take matters into their own hands and decide that some lives are more valuable than others. Juneteenth is a stark reminder of how broken our world still is and how far God’s reconciling work is from being completed. It stirs up a fresh longing for the future restoration of God’s Kingdom, where there will no longer be “Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female,” when we will all be “one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 NLT).
Juneteenth is a day in which to remember our history as a nation—both the shameful parts and the good parts. We grieve for the tens of thousands of lives that were brutally affected by (and lost because of) slavery, while celebrating the enactment of laws that forbid discrimination and the inhumane treatment of our fellow human beings who are made in God’s image. We honor our differences—differences that were never meant to divide us but rather display the beauty of our God, reflected in the beauty and diversity of His creation.
There is still a long way to go in the work of racial reconciliation, and we won’t see its completion until the day of Jesus’s return, but until then we can thank Him for the progress that has been made and pray that it continues in meaningful ways. And we can remember, grieve, honor, and celebrate all those who came before us.
