It was once a day of liberation celebrated across most but not all states.
The story of Juneteenth is tied to the story of the nation.
As one former enslaved person, Felix Haywood, put it, “Everybody went wild.
We all felt like heroes … just like that we were free.
It didn’t seem to make the whites mad, either.
They went right on giving us food just the same.
Nobody took our homes, but right off colored folks started on the move.”
“The n****** bellered and cried and didn’t want to leave massa.
But others were not as lucky.
But he didn’t tell us we were free til a whole year after we were.”
The legislation passed unanimously in the Senate, and with 14 dissenting GOP votes in the House.
Let us come together.
That is what happened today" (via CNBC).
