Last Updated on June 19, 2024 by BVN
Overview: Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a US holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the state of Texas , two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was first celebrated in 1865 in Galveston, Texas, and was made a federal holiday in 2021. The holiday is celebrated with parades, festivals, and block parties, and is a time for African-Americans to celebrate their freedom, culture, and empowerment. The holiday is also a reminder of the ongoing racial inequality in the US.
Mary D. Welch | Contributor
Juneteenth is a celebration of the freedom, culture and empowerment of African-Americans. A national holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the US has been celebrated every 19 June since President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in 2021.
What is Juneteenth?
On 19 June 1865 – months after the northern U.S. states defeated the slave-owning South in the US Civil War – enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, were finally told they were free.
That act of liberation came more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln declared all enslaved people in the rebellious states to be free by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.
However, the declaration by General Gordon Granger to bring the proclamation into effect in the state of Texas is seen by many as the true end of slavery.
Why is it called Juneteenth?
The word was created by joining the words “June” and “nineteenth” together.
Is Juneteenth a federal holiday?
Formally declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday took decades to happen. Juneteenth was first recognised as a state holiday in Texas in 1980. In the years afterwards, every state but South Dakota formally went on to recognize Juneteenth as a state or ceremonial holiday.
When former President Barack Obama was senator for Illinois, he co-sponsored legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday, but the law was never passed–not even after during his presidency. .
But the legislation gained momentum after Black Lives Matter protests erupted around the country in the summer of 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by St. Paul, MN, police.
In the lead-up to 19 June 2021, both chambers of the US Congress moved swiftly to pass the bill and with the signature of President Joe Biden, it became law. It was the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983.
Among the campaigners for a federal holiday was Opal Lee, who, at age 89, walked from Texas to Washington DC in 2016 to raise awareness and persuade lawmakers.
She walked 2.5 miles (4km) each day – representing the two-and-a-half years it took for enslaved people in Texas to learn they had been freed.
Ms. Lee spoke of her “many different feelings” after Congress approved the new federal holiday. “I don’t know what to call them all,” she said. “I am so delighted to know that suddenly we’ve got a Juneteenth.” Adding, “It’s not a Texas thing or a black
How is it celebrated?
On Juneteenth, US government offices close for Juneteenth, as do any private businesses that participate. As for whether state government employees get a paid day off, that depends on whether state authorities mark Juneteenth as a state holiday, a day of observance or something in between. It is a varied picture.
Similarly, celebrations and traditions differ across the US. In some states there are parades, festivals and block parties where people gather to share food and play games.
There are also public readings and singing, picnics and church services. In some states rodeos, contests, concerts and parades are also organized.
Food also plays an important part in these celebrations, with barbecues being one of the most popular ways of marking the day with family and friends.
Many people choose to shop at Black-owned businesses or eat at Black-owned restaurants.
Others elect to attend solemn or reflective events that call attention to ongoing racial inequality.
Why is Juneteenth important?
The ending of slavery did not end racism and in the years after emancipation, so-called Jim Crow laws were created to separate Black people from white society and limit their civil rights.
The legacy of those laws is still being dismantled. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African Americans at the hands of police have spurred anti-racism protests. Celebration of the national Juneteenth holiday also comes as a cultural debate rages over the history of slavery and how it should be taught in American schools.