Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates equality, unity, and American ideals, yet some would use it to create division and strife.

From Blaze Media. This Wednesday, America will celebrate Juneteenth as a federal holiday for the fourth time. Yet the holiday, born out of bipartisanship, is becoming more divisive each year. …

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Until the past four years, Juneteenth was an uncontroversial celebration of American freedom and the end of slavery in Texas. The holiday commemorates the day Union Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 in Galveston, informing Texas of the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the state’s slaves, and marking the end of slavery under the Confederacy. …

… In 1979, Al Edwards, a Democratic state representative from Houston, sponsored legislation to make Juneteenth a paid state holiday. Texas Gov. Bill Clements, a Republican, signed the bill into law, and the holiday was born. …

If it’s good enough for Texas, why are some conservatives beginning to oppose the holiday?

Unfortunately, the answer lies mostly on the left.

The Left has worked hard to co-opt the holiday and use it as a tool to divide their countrymen and to replace the real Independence Day. It began on the first federal Juneteenth, when Democratic leaders tied the 156-year-old holiday to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. …

The Guardian published a story calling Juneteenth “the real Independence Day”—a slap in the face to both our Founders and all Americans who celebrate July 4. …

But it’s not too late to save the holiday from those who would abuse it. Here’s one way: Celebrate it as the first day of a two-week national celebration of independence and freedom, stretching from June 19 to July 4.

We should remember the wars in which Americans fought and died to defend our shared heritage of liberty and expand it to all Americans. We should commemorate the armies of young patriots—black and white—who fought wars against tyrannical elites, whether it was the English crown or the plantation owner. We should consider how elites today are trying to take away the very freedoms that were secured on June 19 and July 4 through the blood of our forefathers and work with our neighbors to protect our liberties.

That’s the true spirit of Juneteenth. It’s a day of building up our country, not tearing it down. We have an opportunity to reject racial divisions and the revisionist history of the ivory tower. …

For more discussion on the significance of Juneteenth, check out our recent Headline Prayer Live webcast, linked below:

Share your prayers for unity on this special day below.

(Excerpt from Blaze Media. Photo Credit: NASA Headquarters / NASA/Keegan Barber)