FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2021 JUNETEENTH - LOVE WINS

 FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2021 JUNETEENTH - LOVE WINS

Happy Friday everyone.  What a difference a year makes.  Last year by mid-June, we were up-to-our-eyes in COVID, and in Black Lives Matter confrontations.  

Even though officially Juneteenth is tomorrow, I want to look at it today as a LOVE WINS post!!

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In 1865 the Civil War officially ended on April 9, 1865, with the peace treaty at Appomattox Courthouse.  But, there was no telephone, no internet, no way to tell the country that the war was over.  But, it really wasn’t over. General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant. But, there were still other Confederate Armies in the field.  

The last battle was a month later.

“Near Brownsville, Texas on May 12, a force of 350 Confederates under Col. John “Rip” Ford defeated 800 Union troops led by Col. Theodore H. Barrett in the Battle of Palmito Ranch, the last land battle of the Civil War. “It’s mainly Texans versus Texans,” says Charles D. Grear, professor of history at Central Texas College and author of Why Texans Fought in the Civil War. “It wasn’t really that big of a fight, but it’s still the last significant conflict of the Civil War.”

But not everybody knew the war was over.  On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army landed in Texas at Galveston and publically read General Order No. 3, which stated: ‘The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.’

Thus the last official day of slavery in the United States was on June 19, 1865 - “Juneteenth”.  

Of course, slavery wasn’t really over.  Some slaves may have left their locations and traveled to find work - but some decided that just remaining at the only home they had known, doing the only work they had known, was okay.  Maybe the former slave owners made a management/employees unit and paid the workers a wage.  Some may have kept the housing and food as wages and life went on.  

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And, in subtle ways, slavery existed in other forms.  In Appalachia, mines employed miners giving them food and housing.  In the old ballad sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford, “16 tons and what do I get, another day older and deeper in depth.  St. Peter, don't you call me, cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store.” Owners knew they had a ‘captive’ workforce.  And, GREED (the great American attribute) continued.  

Over the years, as labor organized and walked off worksites in protest of kind of a de facto slavery, conditions improved.  As many have said, “Capitalism isn’t ideal, but it still is better than other forms of economics.” 

People worked in factories (think of Detroit car makers), and demanded a living wage.  Labor unions negotiated with the big three automakers with pressure for fairness.  Fairness is a tough term to nail down.  What is fair to me, might not be fair to you.  A statement by Bill Janklow that a “fair tax” is one you don’t pay.  So, a cigarette tax is a fair tax to me, a liquor tax is a fair tax to me.  Except when my health insurance rates go up to pay for lung cancer victims; or my car insurance rates go up to cover uninsured motorists in driving while intoxicated who killed innocent people.  

There is an old saying, the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Perfect wage distribution is impossible.  Was I worth more to the State of South Dakota, than say, Tom (or Lynette)?  I must have been since Tom didn’t have a doctorate degree!!  Was I less important to the State of Texas as a senior lecturer who didn’t teach graduate students and didn’t write scholarly articles in the top journals?  

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There is another slavery that still exists - “white slavery”.  Women have been forced to work as prostitutes/sex workers because of poverty?  Is it a slavery condition?  Do groups recruit foreign women to a “good life” in the United States by putting them in brothels?  (Good old Greed).  And, if it is stamped out here, it pops up there.  

What happened to black slaves who became crippled or too old to work the plantations?  What happened to the women who became too old and unable to ‘satisfy’ their prostitution clients.  Are they put out on the streets?  Do they take up a life of crime to satisfy their basic needs?  

Do relatives of the rich get good positions in companies?  Does “Junior” take over the reins from “Dad” when dad retires?  Can immigrants get good jobs - or do they have to “pay their dues” for a generation before they can be considered “real”.  

“Man’s inhumanity towards his fellow Man”.  Let’s treat some people differently because they are black, or because they are Hispanic, or because they didn’t go to college.  

I have used Micah 6:8 before.  “And, what does God expect of you oh Man?  But to love justice, to show mercy, and to walk humbly before His God”.  Last summer boiled over with Black Lives Matter - is it real or just perceived that Black Americans are judged more harshly in the American legal system?  Was George Floyd discriminated against?  

What is justice?  How can I show mercy?  And, how can I walk humbly with God?  Tough questions that I don’t have an answer for.  But “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” - whatever that means in today’s pluralistic society.  

For me, it comes down to two words: “Love Wins”.  

My goal is to work towards making that motto true!!!

LOVE WINS!!!

HUGS!!

Karen