Juneteenth researched

"If we are going to do a day of recognition, let's do it right. We have a lot of ground to cover. I think a point of total agreement for all of us is this - no matter the year, the country - slavery is wrong. Terribly wrong. To end slavery forever, we need to call it out."

Today is Juneteenth. It is a fairly recent recognition day, and soon it will probably be a national day of remembrance. It marks the day the final state (Texas) freed their slaves. At the peak, the United States had about 500,000 slaves. To end this practice of slavery, this country fought a civil war, in which somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 Americans died. So many died, it is still our bloodiest war. How did the folks in Chicago celebrate this day of remembrance a bit earlier in June? They burned a statue of Abe Lincoln - the President who freed the slaves.

Even though 500,000 is a lot of people to be enslaved in pre-civil war United States, it was only 4.4% of the number of people who were sold into slavery in the Americas. True story. Why bring this up? I think the scope of Juneteenth is much, much too narrow. I think it should be about the evils of slavery - past and present. If the 500,000 is only 4.4% of the more than 10,000,000 slaves brought to the Americas, should we not remember them also? 

In addition, slavery never ended. Today, it is estimated there are still somewhere between 20 and 40 million people who are enslaved. Many are children, sold into the sex slavery business. Those people should also be remembered, as there are precious few in the world today who are looking out for them.

What I am saying is simply this. I see nothing wrong with Juneteenth. I don't even object to it becoming a national day of remembrance. What I would correct however, is the scope. I would not only recognize the 500,000 slaves in the United States, but also the up to 700,000 people who died in a war to end our slavery. I would recognize the 95.6% of the slaves who came to the Americas but did not end up in the United States. And I would recognize the tens of millions who are still enslaved today.

If we are going to do a day of recognition, let's do it right. We have a lot of ground to cover. I think a point of total agreement for all of us is this - no matter the year, the country - slavery is wrong. Terribly wrong. To end slavery forever, we need to call it out. And do it in the loudest of voices. Maybe even having this day not only be a national day of remembrance, but also a global one. 

The more I think about this, the better I like it. In fact, we also need a genocide recognition day. This would recognize not only the holocaust from WW II, but also the forgotten genocide, the Armenian genocide from WW I. Plus there have been plenty more which are slowly being forgotten. Genocide, as well as slavery, are both vile and evil. They should be ended, and their past sins should always be remembered. Thanks Juneteenth, for getting us off on the right foot.