As the Civil War came to a close in 1865 and more than two years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, people remained enslaved where the news of slavery’s end had not reached. As was the case in Texas until June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger arrived with federal troops in Galveston and issued an order freeing the nation’s last slaves.
This day became known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Emancipation Day which is now a federally recognized holiday.
Just as slavery did not magically end with Lincoln’s proclamation or with the end of the Civil War, it bears acknowledging that the battle even for freedom for all is ongoing.
Anywhere and at any time that anyone is not afforded unfettered access to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the fight is not over.
Unfortunately we live in a time where there are deliberate actions underway to restrict or deny unfettered access to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to citizens of our country
Just as Major General Gordon Granger had to ride into Texas to free slaves two years after Abraham Lincoln already did that, we can never assume the work for freedom for all Americans is ever over.
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