Speaker Don Scott Issues Statement Commemorating Juneteenth

RICHMOND, VA — Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Don Scott issued the following statement in observance of Juneteenth, commemorating June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and finally informed the last enslaved Americans that they were free – more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

“When freedom finally became the law for all, it still took more than two years for that freedom to reach the last enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas. That delay is one of the enduring lessons of Juneteenth – rights written on paper mean little unless we have the courage and commitment to make them real.

“Juneteenth is both a celebration and a call to action. We cannot ignore what is happening today. The Voting Rights Act has been weakened, and across the South, Black political power is being diluted through redistricting schemes.

“As the first Black Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates in our Commonwealth’s history, I understand that every generation inherits a responsibility to protect and expand the promise of freedom. We owe that work to those who came before us, and to those who come after us. 

“Because freedom is about more than the absence of oppression – it is about the presence of opportunity. The freedom to earn a good-paying job, afford a home, send your children to a world-class public school, and live in a safe community. The freedom to pursue happiness and build a better life for your family.

“That is how we honor the spirit of Juneteenth – by ensuring that freedom is not merely promised, but experienced by every Virginian.”