As Juneteenth Arrives, Efforts to Ensure the Right to Vote Remain Vital

This coming June 19^th will be the sixth year Juneteenth has been celebrated as a federal holiday and as an Illinois holiday.  Originally celebrated on June 19, 1866, Juneteenth marks the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation being enforced in Texas, freeing some of the last slaves in the United States following the Civil War.  The holiday has since become a celebration of advancing civil rights for Black Americans.

Despite the progress that has been made, there are still setbacks and ongoing challenges. As a piece published by the Brennan Center for Justice states:

This year’s Juneteenth is a sobering reminder of the irony of American democracy.  This newly recognized holiday celebrates the jubilation of Black slaves in Texas realizing that their long-sought freedom had actually become a legal reality two and a half years prior.  Their freedom had been declared in the law yet denied in practice.  In the time since the Civil War, America has struggled with this paradox — a country founded on the idea of freedom has denied, delayed, or eroded the rights of its Black citizens, especially when it comes to voting.

****

****  So this year’s Juneteenth is a time for reflection and action. The history of denied voting rights for Black Americans persists, and each generation must fight so that our nation can finally achieve its founding promise.

Read the Brennan Center’s full article “Juneteenth and the Unfinished Fight for Voting Rights” here: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/juneteenth-and-unfinished-fight-voting-rights