What, to Leelanau County, is the Nineteenth of June?

In a July 5 speech in 1852, the formerly enslaved abolitionist Frederick Douglass famously asked, “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” His answer was essentially not much: the Declaration of Independence skirted the presence of slavery in the British colonies and left millions of enslaved people still not enjoying life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

As we barrel toward the hoopla of the 250th anniversary of July 4, why should we pause — and sing, shout, march, or even picnic — on a day that sits in the historical shadows of Independence Day?

Because Juneteenth commemorates another of our foundational documents — the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 — equally important in our history to the Declaration and the Constitution.