Juneteenth and Celebrate America Days: A Proposal

Juneteenth is the celebration of the emancipation of African-Americans from slavery. June 19, 1865 was the day in which the Emancipation Proclamation was brought by federal troops into Galveston, Texas and has been celebrated as Emancipation Day ever since.

If liberty is the most important anchor-point for the collective self-image of most Americans, then Juneteenth should be just as important a holiday as the Fourth of July and much more important than Halloween or Thanksgiving. For that matter, there should also be a celebration on July 2 for the enormous expansion of liberty for African-Americans, women, gays, the eldeerly, and other groups triggered by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Like the Fourth of July and Juneteenth, the turmoil of the Sixties was fundamental to the broad social and political liberties that we enjoy as Americans today. The Sixties should be commemorated with a national holiday to celebrate the most important political accomplishment of that era.

In fact, the whole period between Flag Day on June 14th and the Fourth of July should be designated as the "Celebrate America Days" and most of the U. S. should shut down in the same way that most European cities shut down during August. One of the big disadvantages of living in the U. S. is the general lack of vacation time. I've read someplace that Americans only average ten days of vacation a year. Designating a three-week patriotic vacation period would make everybody a little happier, a little saner, a little more energetic, and probably a little more productive for the rest of the year.

Let's make Juneteenth a big part of the Celebrate America holidays. It's the least we can do to recognize the importance of Emancipation in American history and the least we can do to introduce enjoy the liberty that so many of our ancestors fought for.