Americans celebrate July 4th. It’s Day. That’s the day when the United States said it was free from Britain in 1776. But that didn’t mean freedom for everyone. Black people were still slaves. The last slave in America wasn’t free until June 19, 1865.
June 19 is now an important date. People call it “Juneteenth.” It is a day of celebration. There are usually parades. Some people read poems. Others play music. On Thursday, Juneteenth became a national holiday. President Joe Biden signed it into law.
Juneteenth is America’s 11th yearly federal holiday. Juneteenth is also the first new national holiday since 1983.
“Federal holidays are purposely few in number,” said Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. She said America’s holidays “recognize the most important milestones.” Maloney added: “I cannot think of a more important milestone than the end of slavery.”
Government workers don’t work on national holidays. Now those include Juneteenth. Juneteenth is on a Saturday this year. So workers will get Friday off.
Ronald Myers runs the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. Myers wanted Juneteenth to be a national holiday. Why? “It’s important that all Americans know the true history of the country,” Myers said.
So, what is that “true” history? Well, the United States was splitting apart by 1860. The Southern states wanted to keep using slaves. The Northern states wanted to stop. Shots were fired on April 12, 1861. The Civil War began.
President Abraham Lincoln issued the
Proclamation. It said that by January 1, 1863, slaves in most Southern states “shall be ... free.” Yet America’s last slaves did not learn about this then. The news reached Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
Anne Bailey has written books about slavery. “Juneteenth represents an emancipation day,” she explained. “It’s a full two years after the official emancipation day in 1863,” Bailey said. “It came late,” she admitted. “But it was a happy day.”
Juneteenth is a time to celebrate. It’s also a day to reflect on America’s past. “Slaves contributed greatly to the building up of America,” Bailey said. Juneteenth can help “every American understand what Africans and people of African descent brought to America.”
Updated June 17, 2021, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)
