Minnesota Prairie Roots

CONSIDER FOR A MOMENT the significance of Juneteenth. On this date in 1865, news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas.

Imagine the jubilation of learning that you might really and truly be free. I expect that may have been difficult for many to believe. But two years earlier, President Abraham Lincoln signed the document ending slavery in states that had seceded from the Union. Not all states. Only those that had been part of the Confederacy.

The proclamation reads in part: I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free… What powerful words—shall be free.

While slavery ended long ago, the struggle continues for anyone whose skin is other than white. Injustices and racial discrimination remain. To think otherwise is to be in denial. Look what’s happening with gerrymandering and voting rights. Consider cases of police brutality and incarcerated Black men who were later cleared of crimes they did not commit. Consider poverty.

And remember the Civil Rights movement, the fight for equality that happened long after slaves were declared free. But not equal.

Juneteenth marks a day to reflect on how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. I care about this personally. My 18-month-old grandson is bi-racial. And although he looks decidedly White with light skin and a head of blonde curls, the blood of slavery runs through his ancestral veins. Some day he will learn about the Emancipation Proclamation and the struggles that preceded and followed.

And I hope that when he understands, he will celebrate Juneteenth in a big way. He already loves music, bopping his head and swaying his body to the beat of songs thrumming from his toys.

Juneteenth holds the same joyfulness. The spirit of freedom and celebration encompassed in the words of the Emancipation Proclamation. You shall be free.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling