Juneteenth

  

It was June 19, 1865, when the news of emancipation finally reached the last enslaved people in the United States, effectively ending a brutal era of legalized human bondage. I think it took many more years to bring equality into the picture, and equality is still a work in progress in the world. But June 19, 1865, marks the day when the battle to uphold slavery in America was lost. After that day, it was no longer lawful for anyone to own a slave. But God knows it was never lawful to begin with.

Yesterday, I participated in the organization of an event that was hosted by The Chairwoman of our county, celebrating Juneteenth. I was proud to do so.

Nearly 2,000 years prior to that day in 1865, we were told, by a very wise man, to love one another. No amendment was ever made to this commandment that would allow us to discriminate. Everyone is covered under any “one-another” policy.

This is how I believe.

But I want to consider this word, “Equality”.

This word could easily be short for “Everyone’s Access to Quality”.

We are called to exist, not in isolation, but in mutual, self-giving cooperation. Qualia is the word we use to say what something is like to “myself.” Quality is when that something is good. Equality brings these thoughts together to say that if it is good for one, it is good for all. We are all born with equal access to struggles, but it takes cooperation to bring about equal access to quality.

These are thoughts I feel strongly about. Oneness. I simply do not believe there is anything that can stand against unity. Equal access to quality is what I want for everyone.

I think about the necessity of this "equal access" in our daily lives—even in the smallest interactions. Three feral cats showed up at my house yesterday morning. Two were big and one was small. The bigger cats found the food left in the bowl by my wife, who wants to nurture the wild animals. The smaller cat was displaced and was not allowed to come and dine.

I moved into this situation and told one of the bigger cats to make way for the small cat, and the smaller cat was able to understand that the coast was clear, so he came to eat while I stood and limited access from the big cat for a moment. Without governance, the empathy of a large, wild cat is not sufficient to see to it that a small cat gains access to food. Without governance, the empathy of some of our more powerful citizens is not sufficient to see to it that the less fortunate citizens have access to quality.

 

Equality is “Everyone’s Access to Quality”. Everyone’s.

 

Whenever we consider our freedoms, subjectivity is still important. I want walls around my loved ones and my belongings; I want a roof over our heads. I want my right to this isolation and the locks on my doors are there to secure this right. But away from my home, this circle of subjectivity is not my own. Any bigger circle can only be drawn around the community. The community also has rights to security and protection from adversaries, but within this bigger circle, every member of the community is a loved one. Neighbors are not objects, but parts of the community subjectivity.

We are only one community. And when we truly understand that every member of that community is a "loved one," the work of ensuring equal access to quality becomes not just a policy, but our shared purpose.