On this Juneteenth, we celebrate that glorious June 19th in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas finally received word that they’d been freed.
But today is about more than just celebrating June 19, 1865.
Today is about celebrating Black joy and Black liberation in Texas and across America. It’s about celebrating the remarkable achievements and cultural and economic contributions of Black Americans, despite the constant adversity we must still overcome on a daily basis.
That said, today is also about recognizing how much work our country still has to do to achieve full equality and justice for Black people. Black Americans are still disproportionately incarcerated, disproportionately subjected to over-policing and police brutality, disproportionately subject to fatal disparities in access to quality preventative and treatment healthcare, and remain the victims of acts of racism everyday -- from verbal microaggressions to outright violence. Here in Texas, Black Texans are still the subjects of an incessant Republican barrage on their right to vote -- and are disproportionately impacted by Texas Republicans’ brutal, draconian abortion ban.
It’s also a day to remember that it took two-and-a-half years after the emancipation of enslaved people across the country that Black Texans remained enslaved, simply because nobody had yet told them they were free -- a reminder that even our moments of celebration are laced with the remnants of pain and injustice.
So this Juneteenth, we remember and recognize the pain of the Black Americans of yesterday and today -- but we celebrate how far we’ve come, and recommit ourselves to never wavering in our fight for full, unabridged liberty and equality.
For a stronger Texas,
Odus Evbagharu
Treasurer, Texas Democratic Party
