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Floyd’s name, as well as the names of Ms. Janet Mills of Maine, both Democrats, signed bills making the day a state holiday.įollowing the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died in the custody of the Minneapolis Police in May 2020, thousands of people around the United States poured onto the streets in protest. Jay Inslee of Washington, also a Democrat, declared Juneteenth a state holiday starting in 2022, and legislators in Illinois approved a bill that would make it a paid day off for all state employees and a school holiday. Ralph Northam of Virginia, both Democrats, signed into law legislation declaring Juneteenth holidays in their respective states. Since then, at least 45 states and the District of Columbia have moved to officially recognize the day. In 1980, Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth as a holiday, though the recognition is largely symbolic. President Biden signed the bill into law the day after that, immediately giving federal employees the day off this year. The Senate on June 15 passed a bill to recognize the day, and the House approved the measure the next day.
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On June 17, 2021, it became the 11th holiday recognized by the federal government. Previous efforts have failed to make it a national holiday, and few have fought harder for the recognition than Opal Lee, an activist in Fort Worth who campaigns for the cause. General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued more than two and a half years earlier on Jan. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. On June 19, 1865, about two months after the Confederate general Robert E. Here’s a brief guide to what you should know about Juneteenth. over the last year and following a guilty verdict in the killing of Mr.
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The celebration continues to resonate in new ways, given the sweeping changes and widespread protests across the U.S. Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, has been celebrated by African-Americans since the late 1800s.īut in recent years, and particularly following nationwide protests over police brutality and the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black Americans, there is a renewed interest in the day that celebrates freedom.