Let's celebrate together

As Oberlin prepares to celebrate Juneteenth -- as far as we know, the only municipality to celebrate it as an official city holiday -- we would encourage all our readers to participate in the festivities.

Juneteenth celebrates the arrival of federal troops in Galveston, Texas, and Union General Gordon Granger's reading of General Order 3, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation. Also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, it honors African-American heritage.

But in a larger sense, Juneteenth recognizes the worth of every man, woman and child. It celebrates the self-determination our nation fought a Civil War to forge and which we celebrate daily here in Oberlin.

The celebrations center on the black culture, because the festivities arose from the spontaneous rejoicing of freed slaves in the streets of Galveston on June 19, 1865. But white Union soldiers almost certainly danced with the men and women they had fought four years to free.

The last 145 years have not seen the relations between black and white as joyful as they were that day. But we can take this opportunity to join together to celebrate emancipation for all people.