Yesterday was the Juneteenth World Wide Celebration, the commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. As you can see in President Obama’s statement below, it’s based on the actual, as opposed to the mandated, freeing of slaves in Galveston, Texas in 1865.

I remember the celebrations in Texas when I was young, and it’s good to see those events being recognized more widely. That’s not because Juneteenth marks the completion of America’s struggle against racism, but because understanding our past can help us begin to deal with the reality of racism today.