Juneteenth is a national holiday commemorating June 19, 1865, which is the day that Union troops entered Galveston, Texas, and declared that all the slaves in that state were at last free. That date is often considered the final end of slavery in the United States, although it took a constitutional amendment ratified later that year to truly eliminate it.

Clearly, Black Americans have the most emotional connection to Juneteenth, but people of every race are invited to join in celebrating a day which helped to create a modern United States in which no one thinks twice about things like having two Black justices on the Supreme Court or a Black man running for his party’s presidential nomination.

Juneteenth can be considered our country’s second Independence Day. It follows up on the patriotic and revolutionary promise of July 4, 1776, that all are created equal and are endowed with unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Commemorating Juneteenth is a way of recognizing that we are all humans worthy of respect and dignity.

In Fort Dodge, Juneteenth was celebrated just a bit earlier than its actual date. The community’s Juneteenth celebration was Saturday in H.C. Meriwether Park. It featured food, fellowship, a ribbon cutting for the new basketball courts, a car show, and a basketball tournament.

“Juneteenth means emancipation, freedom, and unity,” Murphy Washington told The Messenger. “For us to truly have the voice to be unified and talk about things that bring us together is what Juneteenth is for me.”

While the actual Juneteenth celebration is over, the values of freedom and unity it emphasized should always prevail for local residents.

We encourage everyone to take a minute on Thursday to reflect on the importance of Juneteenth for all.