Today, June 19, 2025, we celebrate Juneteenth – the most popular annual celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. As we celebrate though, the Trump administration and its many allies in the media and among its right-wing supporters are stoking racism against Black people, Muslims, migrants and non-white people. This open upsurge in racism and hatred is certainly horrifying, but it is not a new phenomenon in the United States. Throughout U.S. history racism and violence against minority groups has been the norm. For this reason today, remembering the history of this unique holiday is more important than ever, and gives us clues as to how we can fight against the reaction we currently face.
The holiday we know of as Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas with 1,800 Union soldiers and announced that slavery was officially abolished in Texas.
Although Abraham Lincoln had announced the Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years earlier, in 1863, that was only abolition on paper. In reality, the ending of slavery was a much longer process, and freedom for Black people was fought for in subsequent years – not granted by the government overnight. In addition, this Emancipation Proclamation was limited. It declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are and henceforth shall be free.”
During the Civil War, many slaves freed themselves by rebelling and escaping the Southern plantations to fight for the Union Army. The historian W.E.B. DuBois called their actions a general strike, and these actions tipped the balance of the war in favor of the North because their escape crippled the Southern economy which relied on their labor. An estimated 180,000 escaped slaves even joined the Union Army, providing new forces that were decisive in the Northern victory.
While Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in Texas, it had special significance in the overall ending of slavery in the United States. As the Civil War neared its end and the Union began to capture major Southern cities, many slaveowners from Mississippi and Louisiana forcibly relocated about 150,000 enslaved Black people to Texas to avoid the Union army and maintain slavery for as long as they could. This stronghold of slavery was defeated when the Union Army arrived to take control of the state – enforcing the end of slavery through military occupation.
Because of its place in Texas history, Juneteenth was originally celebrated by Black people in Texas and wasn’t known in other parts of the country. As Black descendants of slaves began migrating from the South to other parts of the country, they brought the tradition with them. Over time, Juneteenth became more popular throughout the U.S. and was recognized as a holiday in many states.
In 2021 President Biden signed a federal law making Juneteenth a national holiday. But this concession cost the exploiters and oppressors he represents very little. It was only given after the mass protests following the killing of George Floyd and other Black people that showed the broad disgust with the deep-seated racism and police violence still used against Black and poor people in this country. He did nothing to get rid of the prison system that still disproportionally incarcerates Black men. He did nothing to eliminate the inequalities of life under capitalism that keep millions of Black people impoverished. He didn’t even attempt to change the role of police in our society. And now Trump is rolling back even those minimal reforms, recently lifting the consent decree that was already a phony attempt to reform the Minneapolis police who killed Floyd in the first place.
Even though the federal holiday itself is only a superficial and symbolic attempt to quiet us down, we can remember the day for what it truly represents – freedom, a victory over oppression and slavery, and a triumph for the Black struggle. We can remember that it was Black people themselves who fought for everything they have, from the ending of slavery to the winning of other basic freedoms during the 1950s and 1960s. And as the resurgence of racism explodes under Trump, we can remember that the struggle was never finished, and that we will need to continue it into the future.
Racism cannot be overcome by a declaration. It is woven into the fabric of the system of capitalism that gave birth to slavery. The divisions that it maintains today perpetuate the conditions faced by most Black workers. The struggle for Black liberation is an essential part of the broader fight for liberation from exploitation by this system. And it won’t be over until the rule of a small wealthy minority over the majority is thrown into the dustbin of history, allowing all of humanity to thrive.
We celebrate Juneteenth this year and the heroic efforts of prior generations to end slavery and confront the racism of this society! But we also know the fight is not over. The system of capitalism that created slavery still exists and still uses and helps perpetuate racism. Slavery itself continues to exist within our prison system, with incarcerated people working for corporations with little or no pay. Ultimately, we will need to organize a fight to end this system and the racism it upholds once and for all.
Let’s recognize Juneteenth by honoring the struggles of the past and preparing to take part in the struggles to come.
