The Indianapolis Colts along with the rest of the NFL officially recognized Juneteenth as a company holiday in 2020, giving employees the day off to celebrate the historic for the Black community.
While the Emancipation Proclamation was the doctrine that got the ball moving in freeing slaves in the United States. That historic day wouldn’t actually take place until June 19, 1865—nearly two years after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.
Former Colts head coach Tony Dungy, via USA TODAY, talked about what this day means to him.
Growing up in Michigan in the 1960s, I didn’t hear a lot about Juneteenth. In our history classes we were taught about the Emancipation Proclamation but there was no mention of Juneteenth.
When I got to college many of my football teammates from Texas talked about celebrating this event growing up, so I had to do some research. As I talked to them and did some studying on the origin of the holiday, I learned that June 19, 1865, was when enslaved people in Texas finally got the announcement that they were free.
My first reaction upon hearing this was sadness. The proclamation from the White House had been given almost two-and-a-half years earlier. Why did it take so long for those African Americans in Texas to hear about their freedom?
But as I read more I came to understand that it wasn’t the proclamation that freed enslaved people. The Emancipation Proclamation talked about freedom but actual freedom didn’t come that easily. That freedom required a long, hard fight. And, in fact, we’re still fighting. We can see by what’s going on in our country today that the battle is not nearly over.
I was encouraged to find out that the first celebrations of Juneteenth centered around the church. I think that’s appropriate because this fight for freedom for all Americans is definitely a spiritual battle. To see it become a reality is going to require hearts to change. I’m praying that the Lord will give all of us as Americans the spirit of Juneteenth.
