Opinion

In theory there is nothing wrong with a celebration of emancipation. The freeing of the slaves was one of the great steps forward for this country, an end to the darkest chapter in American history. But we don’t live in theory. Our politics happens in practice, and in practice the vote that elevated “Juneteenth National Independence Day” to the status of a federal holiday is a disaster for those who hold that our country is good, our Constitution a great charter of liberty, and that the nation is to be commended for its progress on racial matters, not damned for its previous sins.

It seems today it’s hard to know what’s true anymore. Everyone’s opinion is an immovable object, and any contradicting opinion an unstoppable force. We find ourselves clashing and crashing into one another, dueling gospels, too stubborn or too confident to budge even one inch. We are not ye of little faith — perhaps just the opposite, we are zealous in our conviction to our convictions.

As I sit here today on Father’s Day, I find it hard to believe that my father would have turned 102 this July. He has been gone for 24 years, but he still lives large in my memory. He was one of those people with the classic cowboy look, and that look landed him on the front of the Montana map tipping his hat during the 80’s. During that time, he would be approached by tourists to have him sign their maps. The name of the photographer was identified as Harley Hettick, so when he would sign Glen Roberts, they would question if he was the right guy. We began jokingly calling him Harley Hettick, so he considered just signing Harley Hettick to avoid lengthy explanations.