Today, we celebrate Juneteenth and all it represents, in Texas and across the country. 

Juneteenth has special significance for Texans because on this day in 1865—more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued—Texans received word of the end of slavery in the U.S. when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and announced that all slaves were now free and had “absolute equality” of personal rights and property rights.  That moment marked a turning point in our nation's long and unfinished journey toward freedom, equality, and justice.

Since that day, Texans have recognized Juneteenth as a celebration of freedom, of progress hard-won, and of the hope that continues to guide us forward.  It is a moment to honor the courage and perseverance of those who fought for justice and to recommit ourselves to that cause today.

But this Juneteenth arrives at a moment when our history is under attack—not just forgotten, but deliberately rewritten.  The Trump administration’s recent executive order, cynically titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” seeks to erase uncomfortable truths rather than confront them.  It dismisses honest reflection as “divisive” and calls inclusive narratives “improper ideology.”  That’s not truth.  It’s propaganda.

As Americans, we have a long, complicated, and essential history.  And understanding all of it—the triumphs and the failures—is how we move forward.  There is nothing more American than seeking a full, honest accounting of our past so that we can live up to our founding ideals.

Juneteenth is a celebration of our ability to do that—to advance the cause of freedom, to expand opportunity, and to make meaningful progress.  Today reminds us that freedom is not a moment, it is a movement.  And if we are not moving forward, we are moving in the wrong direction.

Today, as we celebrate freedom and progress, we also must mobilize to protect freedom and progress and the promise of America.

Together, we can do anything,