Rep. Ellison Statement on Juneteenth

Statement

Rep. Keith Ellison released the following statement today on Juneteenth.

"On this day in 1865, the last remaining slaves in the United States were freed in Galveston, Texas. Three hundred years of human bondage still stains our nation's history, but we continue to march towards a more just future.

"Our grandparents raised us to appreciate the progress celebrated in the streets of Galveston that day so many years ago. But they also taught us to recognize the broken promise of emancipation and reconstruction--it would take decades after the first Juneteenth for African Americans to throw off the weight of Jim Crow.

"Many endured the hardship of moving north to pursue economic opportunity and to escape the lynch mobs of the South. They fought segregation, fire hoses, hatred, broken public policy and a nation reluctant to accept their status as equal human beings. The arc of the moral universe bends towards justice, but only with help from organizers like Martin Luther King, Jr., Josie Johnson, Matt Little and Roy Wilkins--and with the courage of thousands of individuals who stood up for fairness.

"Juneteenth reminds us to remember what our ancestors endured to bring our nation to this point. We honor their legacy by continuing to organize for social and economic justice.

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