The importance of Juneteenth
I have concluded that the June 19 holiday is critical for our nation.
It turns out that on June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, effectively freeing slaves in the South. Here’s a photo of the general.
Few people, it seems, know much about him. No person I’ve spoken to mentioning that Monday is a holiday has responded saying it is a day when we as a nation celebrate the sacrifices almost exclusively by white people to prosecute the Civil War to bring an end to slavery.
Almost every black person who celebrates this holiday is in substance saying thank you to the white population in the 1860s who made this effort and secured their freedom to enjoy all the benefits of our Constitution.
Since the Republican Party was in fact formed for the specific purpose of ending slavery, members today of the Republican Party should, in particular, celebrate this holiday and make the party’s history known to the rest of our nation.
At the same time, members of the Democrat Party should acknowledge that they have been the party of slavery and then publicly seek to atone to the nation for this horrendous history.
h/t Louis W. Barnett, VP, GBRA
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