Juneteenth is a storied and noteworthy day in the African American Freedom Story. But no single day “freed the slaves.” And slavery continued for a brief time, legally, even after June 19, 1865. It was not until the 13th Amendment was ratified on Dec. 6, 1865, that Kentucky and Delaware were forced to abolish slavery. Even then, there remained a loophole – right there in the Constitution – that permitted slavery or involuntary servitude “as punishment for crime.” This loophole would be exploited for decades after the Civil War, particularly through the convict leasing system.

Although the enslaved individuals on Galveston Island in Texas did not learn of their freedom until June 19, 1865, President Lincoln had issued the Final Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. Often heralded as the document that “freed the slaves” – it had important limitations, and in many ways was more symbolic than practical. This document purported to free slaves in areas not under control of the Union army – an aspirational yet ineffective gesture, as it left slavery intact in the Border States still in the Union (Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland), and in areas where the Union army held control, such as large parts of Tennessee.

Once the 13th Amendment was passed at the end of 1865, it would be three more years before African Americans were granted the rights of citizenship – on paper, at least. The 14th Amendment, ratified on July 9, 1868, granted citizenship to all persons “born or naturalized” in the United States. This included formerly enslaved persons. It also sought to provide “equal protection of the laws” to all people. The 15th Amendment, ratified on Feb. 3, 1870, attempted to secure the right to vote for African American men by prohibiting discrimination at the ballot box on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Collectively, these three post-Civil War amendments are known as the “Reconstruction Amendments.”

Regrettably, even Constitutional Amendments did little to secure these rights for the freedpeople. During the era known as Reconstruction, former Confederates waged a war of terror against freedmen, burning them out of their homes, threatening their lives and those of their family, and passing laws for small offenses that could lead to unjust punishments that mimicked slavery. So-called “Jim Crow” laws were born during Reconstruction, and the “separate but equal” doctrine (which was anything but) was enshrined by the Supreme Court in the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling in 1896. It wasn’t until the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case in 1954 that Plessy would be overturned, though many states in the South and elsewhere still sought ways to maintain racism and Jim Crow. One hundred years after the end of the Civil War, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed because African Americans were still excluded from the polls by literacy tests, poll taxes, threats, and other obstacles.

To be sure, Juneteenth is a holiday worth celebrating. But it has been a long, continuous struggle to secure freedoms, rights, and privileges for African Americans, and that struggle continues today. Today, pause and thank all those who have gone before, who sought, claimed, fought for, and maintained their personal freedom, in the face of incredible odds. Recommit yourself to ensuring that America is truly a place of “liberty and justice for all.”