Juneteenth officially marks the day that enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas were notified of their freedom, marking this as the final message of freedom across the southern states. This news arrived on June 19, 1865, more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order noting the freedom of all enslaved persons across the nation. What we need to remember is that the declaration of Independence was signed 90 years before Juneteenth, so the celebration of freedom on July 4, 1776 entirely neglected the fact that Black people were enslaved. Juneteenth represents the true Independence Day for African Americans across the United States.
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