EDITORIAL: Le Sueur-Henderson softball gets well-deserved victory

Jun. 19—Thumbs up to the Le Sueur-Henderson girls softball team, parents, coaches and fans for their thrilling state championship victory over St. Charles on Wednesday.

It was the first championship in the program's history and will stand as a shining moment in regional sports lore.

The team played with enthusiasm, togetherness and spirit, making outstanding plays and treating the large crowds to some top-notch softball.

The return of the state tournament to its accustomed home in North Mankato's Caswell Park after a year off because of the COVID-19 pandemic made the games and the victories all the more enjoyable to watch.

Dakota language focus

Thumbs up to the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota for putting the spotlight on the Dakota language in its newest exhibit.

Focusing on the Native American language rather than some other aspect of Dakota history is thanks to Glenn Wasicuna. When asked by a former museum director how the Dakota people could be represented, Wasicuna said educating people about the language would be most useful.

Recently Wasicuna and Gwen Westerman, whose textile work is part of the exhibit, were able to see the results of the Children's Museum project.

For more than a century the American government and white society tried to destroy Native American languages in a misguided attempt to "assimilate" Indigenous people.

It's fitting the Dakota language can now be celebrated in the area they call home.

Proud of Pulitzers

Thumbs up to Minnesota's strong showing in the list of Pulitzer Prize winners.

The Star Tribune won a Pulitzer for Breaking News for its reporting of George Floyd's killing by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and the aftermath. The Pulitzer Board called the Floyd coverage "urgent, authoritative and nuanced."

The Minneapolis teen who recorded Floyd's death on her cellphone, Darnella Frazier, also received a special Pulitzer citation for her bravery. She understood the importance of recording what she and others in the crowd were witnessing. Her video went viral, defining the narrative of what happened to Floyd on Memorial Day of 2020. Chauvin was found guilty of Floyd's murder, and Frazier's cellphone recording was part of the evidence considered by the jury.

In addition, Minnesota author Louise Erdrich won a Pulitzer for her novel "The Night Watchman," and Graywolf Press of Minneapolis also published the poetry winner, "Postcolonial Love Poem."

The Pulitzer is a well-respected prize that speaks to the quality of work that goes on in Minnesota when it comes to the written word and contributing to understanding of the world around us.

The history of Juneteenth

Thumbs up to the designation of June 19 — referred to as Juneteenth — as a federal holiday.

The legislation passed the Senate unanimously, sailed through the House with just 14 no votes and was signed into law Thursday by President Joe Biden. (Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota was among the Senate sponsors.)

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in Texas — June 19, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Galveston and enforced the Emancipation Proclamation, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln declared an end to slavery in rebellious territory. (The actual end of slavery in the United States did not come until after the 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865.)

The story of Juneteenth, like that of the Tulsa Race Massacre, has been a neglected component of American history. It is worth noting that, even as the the bulk of congressional Republicans lined up this week behind the holiday designation, GOP-led legislatures have been moving to codify that neglect in state laws.

That includes Texas, the home state of Juneteenth. That includes Oklahoma, where the centennial of the Tulsa Massacre was marked this year. Ignorance, it is said, is no excuse. It also should be no policy.