On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas, and issued Executive Order No. 3, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation—two and a half years after it was signed.
The people of Galveston weren’t “late to freedom.”
They were deliberately held hostage.
Slaveowners knew. They simply didn’t care.
And the government did nothing—until it sent in troops.
That’s what it took to free the last of us: armed intervention.
They were deliberately held hostage.
Slaveowners knew. They simply didn’t care.
And the government did nothing—until it sent in troops.
That’s what it took to free the last of us: armed intervention.
Juneteenth is often called a celebration.
But let’s be honest: It’s a correction—an embarrassing footnote to the Emancipation Proclamation.
It’s the story of a people who had to be rescued from a law that was already passed.
Juneteenth vs. Memorial Day: A Reckoning of the Dead
Every May, this country bows its head for Memorial Day, honoring those who died in uniform.
And rightly so.
But who mourns the millions who died in chains?
- Over 2 million Africans died during the Middle Passage, their bodies dumped into the Atlantic.
- Millions more were worked, beaten, raped, and starved to death during slavery.
- Over 180,000 Black soldiers fought in the Civil War to secure their freedom—40,000 of them died.
- After the Emancipation Proclamation, thousands more died—thrown off plantations, left homeless, frozen to death, starved to death.
They chose death over returning to their slave masters.
So I ask:
Where is the day for them?
Where is the memorial for the enslaved child who died crossing a cold field in January?
Where is the holiday for the mother who gave birth to a child and hope—and never saw either live free?
Juneteenth should be our Memorial Day.
Not for parties. Not for parades.
For mourning. Organizing. And demanding justice.
America’s Hypocrisy Didn’t Start in 1776
Before the U.S. became a nation, it was 13 British colonies—and even then we had slavery.
America didn’t inherit slavery. It embraced it.
- In 1662, the Virginia colony passed partus sequitur ventrem, which ensured that children of enslaved mothers would also be slaves.
- In 1705, the Virginia Slave Codes formally classified enslaved Africans as property—not people.
So when the Founders signed the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming “all men are created equal”, they weren’t talking about us.
When the U.S. Constitution was ratified, they made sure to count us as three-fifths of a person—not because they forgot us, but because they meant to exclude us.
These weren’t accidents.
They were designs.
Two of the most celebrated documents in human history were written to exclude the very people who built this country.
Freedom That Required Force: Executive Orders as Our Only Weapon
Let’s be clear:
The Emancipation Proclamation was not enough.
It took Executive Order No. 3 and federal troops to make freedom real.
And it wouldn’t be the last time.
- Desegregation? Executive order.
- Ending job discrimination in the federal workforce? Executive order.
- Fair housing enforcement? Executive order.
- And now, in 2025, the rollback of our rights is happening—one executive order at a time.
Because America writes laws for Black people with no teeth.
And justice for Black America has always needed a president with a pen and a military behind him.
Modern-Day Discrimination: DOJ Indictments and Investigations
Don’t let anyone tell you redlining and discrimination are relics of the past.
- City National Bank (2023): $31 million settlement for refusing to lend in Black and Latino neighborhoods in L.A. – the largest redlining case in DOJ history. (AP)
- First National Bank of Pennsylvania (2024): $13.5 million to settle charges of discrimination in North Carolina. (AP)
- Fairway Independent Mortgage (2024): $8.9 million in fines and subsidies after redlining Black neighborhoods in Birmingham. (Reuters)
If the DOJ is still handing out these fines in 2024 and 2025, you tell me—has anything really changed?
Reparations Paid—to Everyone But Us
Let’s talk facts.
The U.S. government has paid reparations before:
- Japanese Americans interned during WWII received $20,000 each (1988).
- Native American tribes: Over $3 billion in settlements for land theft and mismanagement (various years).
- Holocaust survivors: Supported by U.S. diplomatic and financial channels receiving over $70 billion from Germany.
- Rosewood Massacre survivors: Florida paid $150,000 to each of the nine survivors.
- Black farmers: Over $1 billion paid in the Pigford v. Glickman USDA discrimination case.
And yet—not a single federal dollar to the descendants of slaves.
Why not us?
State-Level Reparations: Illinois Leads While Others Talk
Let’s give credit where it’s due:
- Evanston, Illinois (2019): First U.S. city to implement reparations, funded by cannabis tax revenue. Up to $25,000 per household for home repair or down payments. (PBS)
- Illinois State Reparations Commission (2022–present): A full task force studying reparations with statewide hearings. (Illinois.gov)
- Chicago Reparations Task Force (2024): Established under Mayor Brandon Johnson to create a citywide reparations agenda. (Chicago.gov)
So if cities and states can do it, what’s stopping Congress?
An Indictment on Us: Where Are Our Leaders?
We now have:
- 58 Black members in Congress
- Multiple Black mayors and governors
- Entire cities run by Black leadership
- A Congressional Black Caucus with the numbers to make noise
And we still don’t have a single reparations bill passed. Not one.
H.R. 40—introduced in 1989 by John Conyers—has been reintroduced every year since.
It doesn’t guarantee reparations. It just studies them.
And even that can’t get a vote.
What are we doing?
We have the power.
But we’re not applying the pressure.
The Playbook Is Obvious—But We Keep Falling for It
Every time we rise, they distract us:
- A holiday.
- A statue.
- A resolution.
- A concert.
- A grant.
- A “Black Excellence” showcase.
And we fall for it every time.
We sing.
We dance.
We clap.
We barbecue.
And we forget.
The Power Is Now—Or Never
Black America, wake up.
Juneteenth is not a stage.
It is not a show.
It is not a fair.
It is a funeral and a fuel source.
It is a moment to mourn the past and ignite the future.
So to every:
- Church leader
- HBCU president
- Fraternity and sorority chapter
- Civil rights organization
- Black business coalition
- Elected official—
Reclaim this day.
Reclaim your courage.
Reclaim your purpose.
Reclaim your purpose.
Because we owe the millions who died in chains, in fields, in cold gutters, on bloody battlefields, and in today’s jail cells something more than ribs and red velvet cake.
We owe them justice.
And if we don’t demand it now—we may never get another chance.
Thank you for reading this blog. I appreciate your continued support in raising awareness about the issues that impact our communities the most. Please share this blog—and explore my other articles and videos—each one created to educate, empower, and uplift. Together, we can challenge the systems that hold us back and push forward policies that open the doors to opportunity for all.
Eric Lawrence Frazier, MBA
Your trusted advisor in business and wealth
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