Juneteenth 2026

161 years after the first Juneteenth, I returned to Galveston, Texas, where it all started.

I’m reporting from Galveston, Texas, the birthplace of Juneteenth. This is where Union General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 on June 19, 1865, announcing that “all slaves are free.”

The Civil War was already over and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had “freed” people in slavery, but only in those places in rebellion against the union.

Despite the end of the war, slavery would not be officially abolished until December 1865, when the 13th Amendment was ratified, six months after Juneteenth.

The fight for basic human rights for Black people in this country has always been perilous. As America celebrates its 250th birthday this year, Black Americans know that the promise of equality has never been fully realized.

The Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July claimed that “all men are created equal,” but at least 41 of the 56 white men who signed that document enslaved Black people.

Even today, those rights are under threat. The 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship is being challenged by the Trump administration. The 15th Amendment guarantee of the right to vote is being undermined by attacks on voting rights from the same Southern states that fought for the Confederacy.

That’s why this Juneteenth matters more than ever. As Frederick Douglass said: “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.”

Yes, we still have far to go, but, in many ways, Juneteenth is our independence day. The only question is whether America will ever live up to the promise.