Juneteenth: Truly One Nation Under God

A friend told me about a conversation he had recently. Someone told him, “Juneteenth is just a made-up holiday.”

This sentiment doesn’t surprise me as phrases like "anti-woke" and "critical race theory" get lobbed around like political and theological hand grenades meant to stoke the fires of culture wars.

I disagree with the tactic. We need to resist the temptation of believing that our values and beliefs are threatened because someone celebrates theirs.

Loving our neighbors means wanting each of our neighbors to have the same freedom we possess.

I’m spending my summer at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC training as a chaplain in the Army National Guard. We are chaplains of various faith traditions and backgrounds from around the country. One thing is clear from the teaching: “Stand firm in what you believe, but care for every soldier, no matter what they believe.”

I visited the State House in downtown Columbia. Inside and outside were statues and artwork of famous South Carolinians. Much of the artwork was devoted to heroes of the Revolutionary War.

But not all of it.

A prominent and distinguished statue of John C Calhoun adorned the second floor. The State House guidebook describes him as having “brilliant intellect and skilled leadership [making him] a dominant figure in national affairs for more than 40 years.”

What it didn’t say or remind everyone is that Calhoun supported slavery throughout his career. As he neared death, he adamantly defended the right of the South to secede from the union because of the North’s growing opposition to slavery. 

On the second floor is a beautiful piece of marble that has something etched on it. It’s the 1860 ordinance to dissolve the union between South Carolina and the other states under the Constitution of the United States. Across from it is another beautiful marble document celebrating soldiers wounded or killed in battle as a tribute from the Daughters of the Confederacy.

These are important artifacts that could be used to tell history. Yet, it gave me pause that one of the darkest eras of our nation’s history is celebrated as the South’s response to northern aggression without a disclaimer or sign of explanation.

I found the site where the South surrendered in Columbia. It’s on a stone in the middle of a neighborhood without fanfare or attention. Nobody wants to remember where they “lost.”

When I lived in Japan, the museums of Hiroshima and Nagasaki told the story of the impact of the atomic bombs. There was humility—a lesson learned from the alliance with Germany. They had peace monuments to remind them “We’ll never do this again.”

Fortunately, Columbia did have a few lessons in humility, too.

Outside the State House in Columbia was a tribute to African American history. There is a depiction of a ship that recognizes the enslaved people kidnapped from Africa and the harsh living conditions on their journey. Then, on two large walls, each containing 6 relief sculptures that tell the story from enslavement to emancipation on one side. On the other, there are reminders of the civil rights struggle before ending with modern achievements and successes.

What I appreciated about the monument was that it told the story. The bad and the good. There wasn’t an agenda or teaching shoved down the throat of the viewer. It showed history.

When we celebrate Independence Day on the 4^th of July, blacks in southern states weren’t independent. They were counted as 3/5 of a person following the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

When Major General Gordon Granger declared that all the remaining enslaved people were free on June 19, 1865, our country truly could become one nation under God, indivisible.   

With liberty and justice. For all 5/5 of each person.

Pastor John Klawiter is the senior pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Forest Lake. For more information, email him at