Loving Day & Juneteenth

Until recent years, I was unfamiliar with Loving Day or Juneteenth. When I recently made a comment to a colleague about their upcoming observances, he indicated that he was unfamiliar with the days as well. More and more, I'm realizing how easily we take for granted the freedoms we have without recognizing the points in history that actually made them. More than that, we completely fail to see how those events can inform our faith.

Here's a summary in case you aren't familiar with both days:

Loving Day: Loving vs Virginia - Mildred and Richard Loving were an interracial married couple living in Virginia. They were arrested because at the time, a white man couldn't marry a black woman in the state of Virginia. Their case went all the way to the Supreme Court where the law was changed to legalize interracial marriage in every state. Not just a victory for them but a major victory for the entire country. The day the law was changed? June 12, 1968. You can read the full story here.

Juneteenth: Slavery officially ended in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation. However, not all states were on board. Some of those Southern states dragged their feet in sharing the information that enslaved people were free. Texas being the most western of the confederate states, kept on living life with slavery intact for another two and a half years. Union soldiers came into Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 to share the news and enforce the freedom of enslaved people making this day an important day in our history. Read more here.

Both of these days are days that we should celebrate. They are victories for our country and days that honor the righting of wrong in our history. These days are restorative, redemptive, and usher in hope. They gave life to the oppressed and in many ways carry a parallel to the Gospel. Jesus gives hope to the hurting. He loves without boundaries and removes barriers. Jesus restores the broken and frees the enslaved.

I teach my kids that in most things, we can find God's presence. We can see His hand working, learn something about His character, or double check His truth in nearly every aspect of life. We ask ourselves, does this go against the message of the Gospel? How would God feel about this?

These days are no different. These are good days. They are days that bring justice and redemption to God's hurting people; Days that break down barriers that contradict the Gospel and restore hope. These are good days.

When I teach my kids about these days, I teach them about history and about God. When we talk about the ugly parts of history, we talk about the good parts of Jesus. I pray that in the future, when my kids are online more and they see these days making a presence in their feeds, they will be reminded that hope lives. These points in history remind us of that.