US marks 'Juneteenth' end of slavery amid tensions over racist past June 18, 2020 at 08:43PM

Demonstrations, prayers and cultural celebrations of food and music will enliven communities from New York to Los Angeles to honor the day in 1865 when a Union general proclaimed in Galveston, Texas that all slaves were free. Some 155 years after the demise of the pro-slavery Confederacy, several tragedies have led the country into a reckoning on race.