Some random thoughts on the day after Juneteenth

Most of my formal education took place in public schools in Wisconsin, and Nebraska, and in a private liberal arts college in Illinois. I had never heard of Juneteenth until I moved to Denver, Colorado where I have now resided for more than two-thirds of my life. I had also never heard about what happened on the "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa, Oklahoma before I came west. Before I began interacting frequently with friends who don't look like me, I believed I was well educated.

Denver is more integrated than any of my previous homes, with a vibrant multicultural middle class...and a past power structure laced with and sometimes controlled by members of the Ku Klux Klan. For as long as I can remember Denver's cultural life has been ablaze with mainstream celebrations of Juneteenth, Cinco de Mayo, Gay Pride, the Cherry Blossom Festival, etc. Yet our neighborhoods and schools seem to be getting more segregated.

Across the street from my condo is a Baptist church, down the street to the south is a large mosque and up the street to the north are the Jewish Community Center of Denver, the Greek Orthodox Basilica, and a large Lutheran church: all in a row. The nearby Fairmount cemetery's Jewish section has been messed with in the past couple of years as has the mosque.

As I write, there is a committee of citizens trying to change the name of a Denver community from Stapleton, which honors Benjamin Franklin Stapleton, a five-term mayor of Denver and a high-ranking member of the Klan. It is reported that Stapleton began drawing away from the Klan in 1925 and subsequently worked to lessen its power in the police force. It is complicated.

About a mile to the east of my home is the City of Aurora, the third-largest city in Colorado. Last night a 17-year old boy was shot at the Juneteenth celebration. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. I don't know any other details. He was at what is usually a joyous celebration of the end of slavery. He was shot and killed. I am making no assumptions about his words, activities, or his race. I don't know who shot him or why. But I grieve for him, for his family, for us all.