On June 19, 1865 — two months after the Civil War had ended — more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were freed.
The newly emancipated responded with cries of joy and prayers of gratitude, a celebration that became known as Juneteenth. washingtonpost.com/history/intera…
Black Texans marked Juneteenth each year with parades and picnics, music and fine clothes. wapo.st/3iQsFI2
The Juneteenth gatherings grew through the aborted promise of Reconstruction, through racial terror and Jim Crow, and through the Great Depression, with a major revival in the 1980s and 1990s. wapo.st/3iQsFI2
Listen to the drumline at the 2017 Iowa City Juneteenth Celebration: wapo.st/3iQsFI2
But why celebrate nationally something that happened in a single state?
As Black Texans moved across the U.S., they brought their day of jubilation with them. Embracing that day has become a fitting way to mark the end of a war fought to preserve slavery. washingtonpost.com/history/intera…
At the start of the Civil War, these states still had legalized slavery. Some were border states that remained loyal to the Union. In New Jersey, a gradual abolition law passed in 1804 — so gradual that the 1860 U.S. Census counted 18 people as “slaves.” wapo.st/3iQsFI2
Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia on April 16, 1862. Nine months later, on Jan. 1, 1863, Lincoln declared enslaved people in the Confederacy forever free — though slavery remained in effect on the ground. wapo.st/3iQsFI2
Enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation generally followed battle lines, encompassing all of the Confederacy except Texas by the end of the war.
Four states abolished slavery before the end of the war: Maryland, Missouri, the new state of West Virginia and Tennessee.
Juneteenth: On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Tex., Granger issued General Order No. 3, freeing all enslaved people in Texas, in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation issued two and a half years earlier. wapo.st/3iQsFI2
The 13th Amendment banning slavery was officially proclaimed on Dec. 18, 1865, after enough states had ratified it on Dec. 6. By then, the only enslaved people waiting to be freed were in Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey. wapo.st/3iQsFI2
In early Juneteenth celebrations, freed men and women were invited to recount the horrors of slavery and the sweetness of freedom.
“This was partying with purpose — not only for the people to join the celebration but to learn directly from the past.” washingtonpost.com/history/2020/0…
Juneteenth has taken on a symbolic national reverence as the day news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Texas, but, in reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t end slavery, and neither did the Civil War.
Here are 3 myths about its history.
Last summer, amid the racial-justice protests following the murder of George Floyd, millions of White Americans became aware of Juneteenth for the first time.
Mark Robinson, the firebrand Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina, has for years made comments downplaying and making light of sexual assault and domestic violence. wapo.st/3KQffZ6
A review of Robinson’s social media posts over the past decade shows that he frequently questioned the credibility of women who aired allegations of sexual assault against prominent men, including Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. wapo.st/3KQffZ6
In one post, Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, characterized Weinstein and others as “sacrificial lambs” being “slaughtered.” wapo.st/3KQffZ6
Exclusive: A Washington Post investigation has found that over the past two decades, hundreds of law enforcement officers in the United States have sexually abused children while officials at every level of the criminal justice system have failed to protect kids, punish abusers and prevent additional crimes. wapo.st/3XiNgZC
The Post conducted an exclusive analysis of the nation’s most comprehensive database of police crimes.
From 2005 through 2022, reporters identified at least 1,800 state and local law enforcement officers who were charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse. wapo.st/3XiNgZC
Police and court documents show that abusive officers frequently spent months befriending and grooming kids.
Many used the threat of arrest or physical harm to make their victims comply. wapo.st/3XiNgZC
Exclusive: For decades, Catholic priests raped or molested Native American children who were taken from their homes by the U.S. government and forced to live at remote boarding schools, a Post investigation found. wapo.st/3yB2VZT
At least 122 priests, sisters and brothers assigned to 22 boarding schools since the 1890s were later accused of sexually abusing Native American children under their care, The Post found. wapo.st/3yB2VZT
Most of the documented abuse occurred in the 1950s and 1960s and involved more than 1,000 children.
Experts say the The Post’s findings are a window into the widespread sexual abuse at Indian boarding schools. wapo.st/3yB2VZT
Exclusive: A group of billionaires and business titans working to shape U.S. public opinion of the war in Gaza privately pressed New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams (D) last month to send police to disperse pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. wapo.st/4apUvBO
Business executives including Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len Blavatnik and real estate investor Joseph Sitt held a Zoom video call with Mayor Eric Adams (D) a log of chat messages shows. wapo.st/4apUvBO
During the call, some attendees discussed making political donations to Adams, as well as how the chat group’s members could pressure Columbia’s president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus to handle protesters. wapo.st/4apUvBO
Emily Franciose’s love of the backcountry drew her to boarding school in the Swiss Alps.
Then a mountain fell apart beneath her skis — and left her parents seeking answers. wapo.st/3UqR3SH
Emily had been on skis since she was 2, had attended avalanche safety courses and traveled with a first-aid kit.
She arrived at Ecole d’Humanité — which had a backcountry program with ski tours at least once a week in the Swiss Alps — in August 2022, one day after turning 18. wapo.st/3UqR3SH
The school’s last backcountry outing of the season took place on March 21, 2023.
Spring break was a few days away. Emily and her roommate had tickets to Paris.
But first, a trek to the top of the Wellhorn: wapo.st/3UqR3SH
As Donald Trump faces dwindling options to pay off a massive fine imposed as a result of losing a fraud case in New York, financial experts say filing for bankruptcy would provide one clear way out of his financial jam.
But Trump is not considering that approach, partially out of concern that it could damage his campaign to recapture the White House, according to four people close to the former president. wapo.st/3TLvfAX
Even though bankruptcy could alleviate Trump’s immediate cash crunch, it also carries risks for a candidate who has marketed himself as a winning businessman — and whose greatest appeal to voters, some advisers say, is his financial success. wapo.st/3TLvfAX
A bankruptcy filing by Trump personally or by one of his companies could delay for months or years the requirement that he pay the judgment of nearly half a billion dollars, which with interest is growing by more than $100,000 a day. wapo.st/3TLvfAX