Grassroots Groups Push ‘Motor Voter’

By Emil Guillermo

On Juneteenth, there was a lesson for everyone in America when pro-slavery forces couldn’t prevent all of the U.S. from getting the truth. Never give up hope. The truth does win out.

That’s why Juneteenth is as close as Asian Americans get to a national holiday commemorating the fight against anti-Asian American violence.

I’m not taking anything away from Juneteenth.

I’m adding to it.

You’ve got to admit it’s a strange holiday.

To be true to the spirit of Juneteenth, maybe we should celebrate it not on June 19, but maybe on the 29th.

Or just put it off for three years.

That would adequately mock what actually happened. The Emancipation Proclamation, an- nounced on Sept. 22, 1862, was the beginning of the end slavery when it went into effect 100 days later on Jan. 1, 1863.

But no one told the slaves in Texas until June 19, 1865— twoand-a-half years later.

Paperwork error? Slow wi-fi?

Whites were so reluctant to give up the immoral activity of slavery in Texas they gaslighted the Emancipation Proclamation.

I remember hearing about Juneteenth when I lived in the Lone Star state in the ’70s and ’80s. (Not the 1870s, the 1970s and 1980s.)

But isn’t it amazing how the push to make it a national holiday didn’t succeed until 2021? 156 years after 1865.

And even when the holiday was announced, most people still happily lived in ignorance. A Gallup survey found that more than 60% of Americans know “nothing at all” or only “a little bit” about Ju-

Mo Brooks (AL), Andy Biggs (AZ), Andrew Clyde (GA), Scott DesJarlais (TN), Paul Gosar (AZ), Ronny Jackson (TX), Doug LaMalfa (CA), Thomas Massie (KY), Tom McClintock (CA), Ralph Norman (NC), Mike Rogers (AL), Matt Rosendale (MT), Chip Roy (TX), Tom Tiffany (WI).

These are the same folks who want to stop the teaching of U.S. history claiming it’s “critical race theory.” Of course, It’s nothing of the sort. The holiday simply makes us appreciate that truth and justice eventually do win out.

The good forces have worked overtime to bend that arc of justice since Juneteenth.

That’s why it’s a federal holiday and a day off for many, a reminder to stay vigilant forever.

THE VINCENT CHIN COINCIDENCE

So, we respect Juneteenth, but one particular coincidence of justice delayed must be pointed out that took place on June 19, 1982.

That’s when Vincent Chin, attending his own bachelor party,

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