by Noah
Today, we celebrate what has been called the official end of slavery in the United States, ie. June 19th, 1865, but please note that 'official' is often loosely defined.
Slavery had supposedly ended on January 1, 1863 when President Lincoln, a Republican way back when the Republicans were the good guys, issued the Emancipation Proclamation but the South fought on. In fact, no surprise here, Texas tried to keep slavery going even after the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox but it wasn't until Union Major General Gordon Granger landed in Texas a couple of months later and issued a general order that informed the slaves there of some vital information that Texans had willfully kept from them, ie. that they weren't slaves working for total assholes anymore. The general order also applied everywhere else in the country. Surprise, surprise, General Granger became so unpopular with whites in the South that it wrecked his health and he died at only 54 years of age.
Meanwhile, the struggle for true equality still continues, and continues, and continues and the disease of the Confederacy has spread throughout the country. For instance: "Voting rights? You don't get no stinking voting rights!" My, how Nixon changed Lincoln's party.
Enjoy the day. But don't let up for a moment. The other side isn't about to. Tens of millions of 'em prove it with their votes every 2 years.
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