Freedom and Gratitude
Tangential to Juneteenth
Originally posted in 2012. Edited for contemporaneous factors and for additional thoughts
“I haven’t heard any Black person say thank you to the over 300,000 white men who died to free those Black slaves.”1
A while back, I had a misunderstanding with a Facebook friend about a comment I left on her page. My comment wasn't directed at her and the particulars of the misunderstanding aren't important, but I've seen the idea floating around for some years now - especially since it has become well known that there are a lot of black Americans who still hold a grudge against white Americans for slavery and Jim Crow - that black Americans ought to be grateful for those white Americans who died "for" our ancestors' freedom. And that was the topic at hand.
Let's get something straight.
I'm quite grateful to God for planting me in this country, in spite of the means of how it was done. It delivered me and mine from idolatry and from Islam. God makes all things work together for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
This country was founded on freedom for all and it took some time, but America has lived up to its foundation. I hate the fact that Americans had to walk in the wilderness to make that happen: to kill each other in a Civil War and to make some of its citizens live in quasi-citizenship for 100 years after that. But it happened, nonetheless.
Here's the thing: did those who fought for the freedom of my ancestors 160 years ago and for the true citizenship of me, my parents and grandparents 60+ years ago (my lifespan) do it to earn the gratitude of black Americans or did they do it for God and/or the honor of our country? One wonders if black Americans' freedom could have been accomplished without the bloodshed, as was so with England. Perhaps not, but black slaves certainly did not ask white Americans to kill each other over it, much less make them do it.
If life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are gifts from the Creator granted to all human beings, then those who defend the same should not care about gratitude from other human beings. As far as this matter goes, any gratitude which the likes of me might offer only serves to engender pride in the recipient.
Pride is a sin; all types of pride.
True freedom fighters have the clean conscience of God. May that be enough for them.
Oh and one more thing: if you think that the majority of either Union or Confederate soldiers fought in that war because they wanted to, you need a wake-up call about how the elites use poor people of all races for their proxy wars and other purposes. Those purposes can be hidden or open.
But mostly hidden.
Keep that last part in mind as you ponder going to war against your neighbors - and I don’t mean just your neighbors in this country.
After the spat between Substack and Twitter, it seems that one can no longer embed Tweets here. But if it’s user error, let me know.
Great word Juliette! No one needs to thank my ancestors. I pray they were motivated by God Himself to help free all His people.
Only individuals can be guilty; people who share immutable characteristics cannot be collectively guilty because there will always be good people who resist evil. We each choose whether to do good or evil.