This coming week, US will observe ‘Juneteenth’ (June 19) which marks the day in 1865 when U.S. federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure all African Americans were freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. In reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t instantly free enslaved people. Many Black people continued to be held in bondage and worked for their white owners for nearly six years after the proclamation was signed.
