The End of “Legal Slavery,” but Slavery Still Exists in the USA

by Father Joe

The End of “Legal Slavery,”
but Slavery Still Exists in the USA

This past Wednesday, June 19, many people in our nation celebrated “Juneteenth” to mark the occasion of the last people who were held as slaves during the United States Civil War learning that they had been emancipated – set free from slavery, free from the idea that another human being could “own” them, treat them as property, and neglect the respect that is owed to them because of the human dignity bestowed on them by their Creator. The number of people celebrating this holiday has grown in recent years, as we continue to wrestle as a nation with covert (and still sometimes overt) forms of racism, sexism, and other “-isms” that lead to prejudice, fear, and hatred. As a Catholic, a priest, and simply as an imperfect person still on the journey toward greater respect for others’ human dignity, I believe this holiday is a helpful one for us to celebrate – both for our human family and as Catholic Christians.

As disciples of Christ, we should all be familiar with this concept – even more importantly, with some form of the experience of being set free… Jesus’ sacrificial love sets us free from the oppression and burden of our sins – most powerfully in Baptism and each time we confess and receive the grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As we grow in faith, we are also set free from letting anyone else determine our value and worth, apart from our God – Creator and Redeemer – who made us in God’s own image and likeness; who sees us as fundamentally “good” because of who we are – not based on what we do, or how “useful” we are to society or any other person who might try to sit in judgment over us. Freedom is a central theme of our faith that runs throughout the Bible, throughout salvation history – the consistent actions of the only God who reaches out to us first. The Lord is the only one who could claim “ownership” of us, yet even God shows great respect our freedom. Distinct from liberty or independence, the freedom God gives us is shown in the fatherly/parental way he treats us. Even at times when the Lord acts insistently in our lives, his parental care is always guided by the fact that God is Love. (For more on this aspect of our relationship with God, reflect on 1 John 4:7-21.)

Not only do we have to be watchful for our human tendencies toward prejudice and coercion in our own lives, but the justice of Christ and the Church is always concerned about those in our world – and in our back yard – who continue to be treated as slaves even today. In more subtle forms, we can become slaves to debt or to keeping up with our peers. In more overt ways, the various forms of human trafficking (forced labor, imposed sexual intimacy, domestic servitude, etc.) are illegal but very real and present in our nation. Our country prides itself in our freedom and ability to rise up from (sometimes imposed) humble beginnings to experience a greater respect. Please God we will find ways to break down hatred, violence, and the various forms of slavery that still exist, which dehumanize us all.