Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson (b. 1743-04-13, d. 1826-07-04, US President 1801-1809) -- on the subject of slavery, in 1781 -- but it seems to me that it applies to other injustices as well

On Juneteenth, we celebrate the ending of that particular sin, but given the number of related sins white Americans have committed as a society against African Americans since then -- exclusionary covenants, Jim Crow, sundown towns, redlining, disparate sentencing, the destruction of "Black Wall Street", and on and on -- I wonder whether my country has (as a whole) ever really repented of the sin of slavery.

Still, there has been progress, and progress should be celebrated, and the ending of the institution of slavery in the United States was a pretty big step in the right direction. So, happy Juneteenth!

"No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck." -- Frederick Douglass (b. circa 1818, d. 1895-02-20)