Universal Independence Day

Each year on the Fourth of July, Americans celebrate our country’s Declaration of Independence from England, when 13 colonies adopted a radical document proclaiming “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

We asserted boldly that the people, from whose consent government derives its power, have the right to “alter or abolish” any government that fails to serve them.

But for millions whose forebears remained in bondage, Independence Day long rang hollow.

For years, black Americans have celebrated another holiday, known as “Juneteenth,” commemorating June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger formally proclaimed slaves’ emancipation in Texas, the last Confederate state be conquered by the Union Army.

Over time, Juneteenth celebrations have grown; the day is now recognized by 46 states and the District of Columbia. It has come to celebrate slavery’s end, when the country took its largest-ever step toward realizing its creed. It also necessarily underlines the great unfinished business of healing the still-gaping wounds left by slavery and Jim Crow segregation.

Juneteenth should become America’s 11th federal holiday, ahead of other proposals to make formal holidays recognizing important Americans like Susan B. Anthony and Cesar Chavez. All Americans of all races should honor the most meaningful moral decision this great nation ever made. Doing so will focus our minds earnestly on how to ensure the human birthright articulated at the country’s inception extends to all women and all men, of all races.