On Juneteenth

by Annette Gordon-Reed

They did not become a separate species by the experience of being enslaved. All of the feelings, talents, failings, strengths and weaknesses—all the states and qualities that exist in human beings—remained in them.

we should refrain from idealizing human beings. We can accept what we think are the good things they did—and there will always be differences of opinion about what “good” means—and not treat them as if they define the entire person. That may be hard to do with myths and legends, but the attempt to recognize and grapple with the humanity and, thus, the fallibility of people in the past—and the present—must be made. That is the stuff of history, too.