John -

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday that marks a major turning point in the fight for Black emancipation in the era of slavery. I’d like to take a moment to explain the significance of Juneteenth, why I voted this week to make it a national holiday, and why it’s so important that we continue to recognize and honor this moment in history.

As many of you know, the Emancipation Proclamation, which was passed on January 1, 1863, legally established the freedom of all enslaved people in Confederate States.

Despite this law, however, hundreds of thousands of people who lived in Confederate-occupied areas remained enslaved — until June 19, 1865, two months after the end of the Civil War. On this day, Union troops reached Galveston, Texas, and notified the last people enslaved in the United States that they were free.

Today, and every year, Juneteenth is a reminder of the atrocities that our nation inflicted upon Black people during the era of slavery, the joy and promise felt by the newly freed on that day, and the battles still to come — 156 years later — in the fight for equality in our country.

I recognize, as a history-making Black man, that my role as a member of Congress is, in some ways, representative of how far we’ve come.

But structural barriers to freedom and equality persist. Last summer, protests broke out after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers. Black people are disproportionately victimized by the police and imprisoned, including for non-violent offenses. Over 40% of inmates on death row are Black.

And many of my Republican colleagues in the House will release statements today honoring Juneteenth while supporting legislation that makes it harder for Black people to vote.

When Congressional Republicans vote against legislation to expand voting rights and grant statehood to DC, and when they vote to preserve the Jim Crow filibuster, they’re signaling support for the legacy of Jim Crow.

It is my duty, as a member of Congress, to fight back against these attempts to turn back the clock on civil rights. Staying vigilant is the only way we can protect the progress we’ve made.

So today, I am choosing not only to remember what happened on June 19, 1865, but to commit to upholding freedom and equality for all in our country — in honor of all who were freed on that day, and in honor of everyone who has put their foot down in the name of racial justice ever since.

Thank you, as always, for your support. Together, we will win this fight.

Onward,
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