William H. Frist: “this June 19th marked the 140th anniversary of Juneteenth, the day our Nation finally ended the immoral and heinous…”

“this June 19th marked the 140th anniversary of Juneteenth, the day our Nation finally ended the immoral and heinous institution of slavery. On June 19th, 1865, three years after President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, a quarter million slaves living in Texas learned that they were free from Union General Gordon Granger. He told the people of Texas: [T]hat in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, marked an end to a sad chapter in our Nation's history but it did not mark the end of racial prejudice in the United States. The horrors of Jim Crowe, lynching, and rampant discrimination still awaited those freed on Juneteenth. It would take 100 years almost to the day until Congress would finally put an end to political discrimination against African-Americans by passing the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act and completing the legislative program of the civil rights movement. Juneteenth marked the end of the struggle against slavery and the beginning of the long struggle for civil rights. For all Americans Juneteenth is a time to celebrate freedom: to reflect on it with picnics, concerts, festivals, seminars, and celebrations.…”