On June 19th, we recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday—a commemoration of the day in 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation. Though Abraham Lincoln had signed that order more than two years earlier, it took the presence of federal troops to ensure its words became reality for the last enslaved people in the United States. Juneteenth reminds us that liberty delayed is still liberty denied—but not forgotten.
This holiday is more than a celebration; it’s a reckoning. It asks us to look at the long, uneven road toward justice and equality in America, to remember not only the freedom granted but the fight it took to get there—and the continued effort required to preserve it.
The Legacy of Lincoln and the Birth of a Movement
We would do well to remember the man behind the proclamation: Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, who saw the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery as moral imperatives. His Emancipation Proclamation laid the groundwork for the 13th Amendment, finally abolishing slavery in law. Lincoln wasn’t perfect—no man is—but he represents the highest aspirations of American leadership: principled action in the face of moral crisis.
Fast forward a century, and the struggle for civil rights had entered a new phase. The 1950s and 1960s were marked by courage and conviction: from Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat, to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declaring, with piercing hope, that he had a dream. These were not merely protests—they were proclamations of belief in the American promise.
Civil Rights and the Truth About Party Politics
What history textbooks often glaze over is this: when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 came before Congress, it was Republican lawmakers who carried the weight of its passage. In the House of Representatives, 80% of Republicans voted for the bill, compared to just 63% of Democrats. In the Senate, 82% of Republicans supported it, while only 69% of Democrats did. And where did the fiercest opposition come from? The Southern Democrat bloc, the so-called Dixiecrats, who filibustered, fought, and fumed against the very idea of equal treatment under the law.
It’s worth remembering: ideas like school desegregation, voting rights, and equal access were not universally embraced by any stretch. The Republican Party, born in the crucible of abolitionism, played a critical role in pushing civil rights legislation across the finish line.
Oregon’s Quiet Champion: Governor Victor Atiyeh
While national attention often centers on the South or Washington D.C., Oregon has its own story to tell. In the 1980s, Republican Governor Victor Atiyeh quietly advanced civil rights in a state still wrestling with its own complicated racial history. Atiyeh became the first U.S. governor to criminalize racial harassment as a felony. He established the Commission on Black Affairs by executive order, despite the legislature allocating a symbolic $1 in funding. And he built lasting relationships with Oregon’s tribal nations, earning trust where many before him had sown division.
Atiyeh’s leadership reminds us that justice doesn’t require fanfare—just firm conviction and the courage to act.
Honoring a Trailblazer: Jackie Winters
Following in the footsteps of that principled leadership was Senator Jackie Winters, Oregon’s longest-serving Black legislator and the first African-American Republican elected to the state legislature. Her public service began under Governor Atiyeh, where she served as his ombudsman and launched the Oregon Food Share program—now the foundation of Oregon’s food bank network. From 1999 until her passing in 2019, Winters championed bipartisan reform, criminal justice fairness, and community uplift, ultimately rising to Senate Minority Leader in 2017. Her life and legacy embody the dignity, determination, and unity that civil rights progress demands.
Sources: Oregon Historical Society & Untold Story of the Civil Rights Movement
Equality vs. Equity: A Distinction With a Difference
Today, we face a new kind of ideological conflict. While the civil rights era fought for equality—equal treatment under the law, regardless of race, gender, or background—the current push for “equity” seeks to mandate equal outcomes. But liberty does not promise sameness. It promises the freedom to strive, to rise, to fail, and to succeed based on merit, effort, and opportunity.
In pursuing “equity,” we risk abandoning the foundational principle of equal rights. Policies that sort citizens by group identity and assign benefit based on demographics rather than dignity do not correct injustice—they calcify it.
The Enduring Promise of America
Juneteenth is a moment to reflect not only on what was, but what must be. We are a nation founded on the truth that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. Liberty, not entitlement. Justice, not favoritism. Opportunity, not guaranteed outcomes.
Let us honor those who came before us—from Lincoln to King, from the marchers in Selma to governors like Atiyeh—by recommitting to those ideals. Let us tell the truth, even when it is politically inconvenient. And let us never forget that America, for all her faults, remains a nation built on a revolutionary idea: that freedom is not given by government, but guaranteed by God.
Liberty for all. That is still the promise. That is still the fight worth having.
Find more from Ben Roche at https://bensviewpoint.substack.com/
About the Author
