Juneteenth, America’s youngest federal holiday recognized in 2021 by President Joe Biden will be celebrated across the nation on Wednesday, June 19th.
Juneteenth came to national prominence in 2020 amid nationwide protests after Minneapolis man George Floyd and Louisville, Kentucky woman Breonna Taylor were killed during encounters with law enforcement. Both Floyd and Taylor were Black Americans.
Their deaths spotlighted ongoing racial inequities in the justice system as well as the legacy of slavery in encounters between Black Americans and the police.
The holiday commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln issued the proclamation to free enslaved African Americans in secessionist states on January 1, 1863, but enslaved people in Galveston, Texas would not learn of their freedom until two years later.
On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed the community of Galveston of Lincoln’s proclamation. Though it was issued years prior, enslavers were held responsible for telling the enslaved they were free, and some ignored the directive. Maj. Gen. Gordon demanded Galveston locals comply with the proclamation.
Texas was the last Confederate state where the proclamation was announced and the first to recognize the date of June 19th, or Juneteenth, statewide.
President Biden on Juneteenth
Proclaiming Juneteenth as a Federal Holiday in 2021, President Biden said that the day “marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation and a promise of a brighter morning to come. This is a day of profound—in my view—profound weight and profound power.”
It is “a day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take—what I’ve long called ‘America’s original sin,’” said Biden.
Last week, the White House kicked things off early with a concert on the South Lawn for Juneteenth and Black Music Month. Singers Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle were among the the lineup of well-known artists from gospel, rap, jazz and other genres.
The atmosphere was primarily festive with Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black vice president, dancing on stage with gospel singer Kirk Franklin.
“Today as we celebrate Juneteenth, together we are reminded of the promise of America,” Harris said in opening remarks. “A promise of freedom, liberty and opportunity, not for some but for all. In many ways the story of Juneteenth and of our nation is a story of our ongoing fight to realize that promise.”
Others may choose to treat Juneteenth as a day of rest and remembrance. That can mean doing community service, attending an education panel or taking time off.