June 19, 1865. More than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, over 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were still in chains. When Union troops finally arrived in Galveston to enforce their freedom, they didn’t just bring news, they brought proof of a hard truth in America:

Freedom must be fought for — and even then, it is never guaranteed equally.

Juneteenth is not just a celebration of liberation. It is a confrontation with the lie that justice moves on its own. It is a reckoning with the fact that even after slavery was legally abolished, freedom was reshaped into something else: sharecropping. Jim Crow. Redlining. Mass incarceration. Voter suppression.

And still today, we see echoes of that original delay:

  • Black Americans are disproportionately denied access to affordable healthcare.
  • School districts remain deeply segregated, decades after Brown v. Board.
  • Black voters face targeted purges, ID laws, and gerrymandering designed to dilute their voice.
  • Black communities are over-policed and under-invested, criminalized instead of supported.

Juneteenth is not just a celebration of liberation. It is a confrontation with the lie that justice moves on its own. It is a reckoning with the fact that even after slavery was legally abolished, freedom was reshaped into something else: sharecropping. Jim Crow. Redlining. Mass incarceration. Voter suppression.

And still today, we see echoes of that original delay:

  • Black Americans are disproportionately denied access to affordable healthcare.
  • School districts remain deeply segregated, decades after Brown v. Board.
  • Black voters face targeted purges, ID laws, and gerrymandering designed to dilute their voice.
  • Black communities are over-policed and under-invested, criminalized instead of supported.

This is not just history — it's the present.

At the Harnett County Democratic Party, we believe honoring Juneteenth means committing to justice; in policy, in leadership, and in everyday action. We encourage our community to:

  • Attend Dunn Juneteenth celebration event on Sunday June 22 and support organizations doing racial justice work.
  • Shop Black-owned businesses in and around Harnett County
  • Learn about the systems that still perpetuate inequality
  • Organize, speak out, and vote in every election — because silence is complicity
  • Have real conversations about race, power, and change — especially in places where it’s been avoided

Whether you’re new to this history or carry it in your bones, Juneteenth belongs to all of us. Let it be a day of reckoning and a call to action.

Freedom came late to Galveston. We can’t afford to wait any longer.