Today is Juneteenth, a “holiday” celebrating the freeing of slaves in formerly Confederate (i.e., Democrat) territories, and an opportunity for modern Democrats to lecture us about slavery and racism, as if they were not the party of slavery and racism.
Out of all days in the year, June 19 is hardly the ideal candidate for a civil rights holiday, which would be better on Dec. 6 (13th Amendment ratification, 1865) or Feb. 3 (ratification of 15th Amendment, 1870). June 19 was not a pivotal point in the history of civil rights, ending slavery, or constitutional development. It merely “marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed.”
In fact, the 13th Amendment had yet to be ratified, so slavery had not been officially nationally abolished. It is worth noting also that some slave owners subsequently lied to their slaves, according to the testimony of the latter, for a year or more after emancipation had occurred to keep the slaves working for free. But the fact remains that Juneteenth celebrates only one date of a years-long emancipation process, a date significant to one town in one state only, rather than the dawn of national emancipation itself.
The freeing of the Galveston slaves is naturally something to praise, and understandably the slaves who were freed in Galveston celebrated the anniversary of June 19 in the following years. But nationally it represented one step on the road to the earth-shaking, nation-shaping action that had yet to be taken — namely, the end of slavery. Perhaps, however, Democrats prefer Juneteenth because this date marked an action that occurred under and can be indirectly connected with a Democrat president — the rabid racist and former slaveowner Andrew Johnson — rather than the constitutional amendments passed thanks to the efforts of Republican presidents, Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Grant, and Republican congressmen.
Related: ‘A House Divided’: 167 Years Later
But Juneteenth provides Democrats yet another excuse (as if they needed one) to blather endlessly, comprehensively, and unhistorically about the injustices of slavery and racism without ever addressing the facts that it was the Democrat Party that championed and started a Civil War over slavery, that it was the Democrat Party that strenuously fought against civil rights, and that it was the Republican Party that ended slavery and secured black Americans’ civil rights.
Just note the hypocritical self-righteousness in the first Juneteenth national holiday proclamation, from Joe Biden (or whoever was using the Autopen that day):
As those who were formerly enslaved were recognized for the first time as citizens, Black Americans came to commemorate Juneteenth with celebrations across the country, building new lives and a new tradition that we honor today. In its celebration of freedom, Juneteenth is a day that should be recognized by all Americans. And that is why I am proud to have consecrated Juneteenth as our newest national holiday.
Juneteenth is a day of profound weight and power.
A day in which we remember the moral stain and terrible toll of slavery on our country –- what I’ve long called America’s original sin. A long legacy of systemic racism, inequality, and inhumanity.
If slavery is our original sin, then Democrats are the worst sinners. Yes, racism for too long held America back from achieving the height of greatness that its founding principles promised, but slavery was abolished and civil rights guaranteed thanks to Republicans, not thanks to Democrats, who never saw a piece of civil rights legislation for the first two centuries of our history that they didn’t vote against and vilify.
If the Democrats had had their way, slavery and Jim Crow would still exist. That is the ugly truth that Juneteenth hides.
Shoutout to my dad, whose birthday is today, which is why my family celebrated June 19 as a holiday years before the Biden Autopen!
