Austin American Standard, 1989 Report:
Slaves in the North learned they were free when the emancipation proclamation was signed Jan. 1, 1863. Black Texans, however, did not get the news of emancipation until two years later when Gen. Gordon Granger landed in Galveston on June 19, 1865, and delivered the news that ended slavery in the Lone Star State.
Across America, her citizens could have only hoped that Juneteenth would be a moment for national unity. Instead, President Joe Biden used the anniversary “to cast aspersions on political opponents, to present America as a cauldron of racial animus, and to make evidence-free claims that he was active in the civil-rights movement.”
Texas was the first state to proclaim Juneteenth a state holiday. The Lone Star State led the way in prompting other states to follow suit.
The number of Juneteenth events has exploded—the sesquicentennial anniversary of the June 19, 1865, proclamation in Galveston that finally freed the last remaining slaves in the United States.
