A date to reflect on: The Juneteenth Celebration
The holiday of June 19, is the celebration of Juneteenth in the United States, which commemorates the abolition of slavery in the United States.
This date has great significance as it marked the end of slavery in the United States. However, the country still faces systemic problems of racism and injustice.
The Juneteenth celebration is a date to remember events in the United States, such as the Black Lives Matter mass protests that were sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in 2020.
However, on June 16, 2021, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would establish June 19 as National Juneteenth Independence Day.
The celebration of Juneteenth is a combination of the words June and nineteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
But the Juneteenth celebration comes after Joe Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth a national holiday.
Biden said making Juneteenth a federal holiday would be remembered as “one of the greatest honors” of his presidency.
Biden, speaking at the White House alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, repeated the sentiments he conveyed when he commemorated the Tulsa racial massacre in early 2020, that “great nations do not ignore their most painful moments.”
In her nineties, civil rights activist Opal Lee organized an annual walk of just over two miles to demand national recognition of the Juneteenth celebration and also honor the rarely told story of some 250,000 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas.
A date to reflect on: The Juneteenth Celebration
Currently, all 50 states and the District of Columbia recognize June 19th as a holiday or observance, but only 28 states have enacted laws as a paid state holiday.
The Juneteenth celebration is observed by all states, including the District of Columbia (the city of Washington).
For example, some companies honor the occasion by giving their employees the day off. The last state to do so was South Dakota.
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Despite being celebrated since 1865, it was only until 1980 that Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday.
With Biden’s signature, Juneteenth is the first approved holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was established in 1983.
Despite certifying Juneteenth as a federal holiday, blacks in the U.S. continue to face systemic challenges, so it is a date to reflect on.
