Tasliym Morales: Juneteenth reminds us that freedom delayed is freedom denied

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence declared that “all men are created equal,” endowed with unalienable rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Yet it took nearly a century for that ideal to reach enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, where General Order No. 3 was issued on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for the last remaining enslaved Americans.

That day, now commemorated as Juneteenth, and an official holiday, represents a turning point when freedom was finally proclaimed for all Americans, at least on paper. But promises of rights aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Real freedom demands more than a proclamation. It requires the ability to participate in economic life and in civic leadership, and those abilities spring from access to the ballot box.

Now, as the United States prepares to mark 250 years of independence in 2026 and reflects on 160 years since Juneteenth, it is time to confront a sobering truth – millions of Americans are still excluded from participating fully in the very democratic process that is the foundation of our shared freedom.

Pennsylvania, the birthplace of American democracy, is one of only nine states that still blocks independent voters from participating in primary elections. This means that more than 1.4 million registered independent voters are barred from casting ballots in the primary elections that often determine the outcome of the general election.

Their exclusion is not incidental; it is structural and undermines the very principles our nation claims to uphold. Independents are the fastest-growing voting bloc in Pennsylvania. They are a demographically and ideologically diverse group, but the one thing they all have in common is cherishing the freedom to think for themselves and not be forced into a box. 

My father was a Marine. Through him, I learned what democracy, truly, means to veterans. Their allegiance is to the flag, not to a political party or candidate for office. They’re not on the red team or the blue team, they’re on the red, white, and blue team, and to shut these heroes out of participating in the democracy they risked their lives to protect is unconscionable.

Independent voters also include people of faith who refrain from party affiliation out of spiritual conviction, young voters who are becoming increasingly skeptical of party politics, and citizens from marginalized communities who do not see their values fully represented in either major party. These populations deserve to have the same right to determine who represents them as anyone else. 

A Proclamation without participation is performative. It is not enough to celebrate emancipation if the descendants of those freed are blocked from fully engaging in the systems that govern their lives. It is not enough to honor veterans if they cannot help elect leaders they risked their lives to protect. It is not enough to tolerate religious diversity if our laws silence those whose faith calls them to neutrality. Freedom, to be real, must include a voice.

House Bill 280, which was approved by the House State Government Committee in May, offers a remedy. It would allow unaffiliated voters in Pennsylvania to choose one party’s primary to vote in. The measure now goes before the full House for consideration.

This policy would immediately enfranchise more than a million Pennsylvanians and bring our democracy closer to what the Declaration of Independence envisioned and what Juneteenth represents. Similar measures have been previously approved by the House and Senate in separate sessions.

This is not a partisan reform. It is a patriotic one — and it’s time to get it across the finish line.

The journey from proclamation to participation has always required struggle. Emancipation did not guarantee civil rights. The right to vote did not guarantee equal access. And the end of formal discrimination did not end systemic exclusion.

Today, we are called to take the next step.

If we truly believe in the principle of government of the people, by the people, and for the people, then all people — regardless of party affiliation — must have access to the ballot at every stage of the process.

Juneteenth is a reminder that freedom delayed is freedom denied. As we approach America’s Semiquincentennial, let us not repeat history by celebrating freedom in principle while denying it in practice.

Tasliym Morales, a business doctoral candidate, is a Republican elected official and governance chairwoman serving on local, state, and nonprofit boards. She resides in Chester City in Delaware County.