Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. Here’s why that’s important.

Yesterday, The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which establishes Juneteenth as a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the US, was signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden.

“I’ve only been president for several months, but I think this will go down, for me, as one of the greatest honors I will have had as president,” said President Biden at the signing event.

What Is Juneteenth? 

For those who may not know, Juneteenth is the now official holiday in America that commemorates the announcement of the freeing of the last remaining slaves in Texas. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed slaves in America two years earlier in 1865, Texas was slow to move on the proclamation for various reasons, including a low presence of Union troops.

Last year, we celebrated Juneteenth, which also falls during LGBTQ Pride month, to remember some of the accomplishments of our Black queer pioneers. While debates about taking down statues and monuments of racist historical figures were taking place last year, we decided to take a look at some Black American trailblazers who could take their place.

How Did Juneteenth Become a Federal Holiday?

The effort to have Juneteenth declared a federal holiday has been decades in the making. Forty-nine U.S. states and Washington, D.C. already recognize Juneteenth as a state or ceremonial holiday. South Dakota is the last remaining state to recognize it. 

Back when he was senator of Illinois, Barack Obama co-signed a law to make Juneteenth a national holiday, but the law was never passed, even after he became president in 2008. 

Many companies decided to observe Juneteenth by giving their employees a paid day off. These companies include such giants as Uber, Nike and Twitter. Governors in such states as New York and Virginia have already declared a state holiday and given state employees the day off. 

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives backed the new legislation by 415-14, just a day after it was approved without almost any opposition by the Senate. It was then signed into law by President Joe Biden. Juneteenth is now the first new federal holiday to be signed into law since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established in 1983.

Only fourteen House Republicans voted against the bill, with one legislator from Montana commenting that the legislation was all about “identity politics”. An opponent of the bill from Kentucky went on to say that the establishment of the law will “create confusion and push Americans to pick one of those two days as their independence day based on their racial identity”.

Why Is Juneteenth Important?

The celebration of Juneteenth is significant because it allows Black Americans to celebrate the freeing of our ancestors from slavery, while also making white Americans aware that the ending of slavery did not do away with racism. In the years after slavery was ended, Jim Crow laws were created to segregate American society and keep Black people from being equal to white people and limit our civil rights.

The legacy of those laws still persist today. Many Democrats argue that recent Republican state election reforms are purposely making it harder to vote in an effort to disenfranchise Black and minority voters who often lean Democratic. The recent killings of countless Black Americans, such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, prove that America still has a tremendous amount of work to do regarding racism. Juneteenth being signed into law is just the beginning. 

The debate over whether or not Juneteenth even deserves to be made into a federal holiday is a clear indication of the many racist views that still run rampant in American society. Many  Republican-heavy states have decided require schools teach the “patriotic education” favored by many white Republicans, while limiting curriculums that seek to tell the true story of slavery and the founding of America. 

How Is Juneteenth Celebrated? 

Black people in America celebrate Juneteenth in many different ways across the U.S. Some states have parades, while people just gather for picnics, cookouts, public readings, singing, concerts and church services in other places. 

Celebration is not just limited to Black people. Anyone can celebrate Juneteenth, but it is important for other racial and ethnic groups, particularly white people, to not use the holiday to appropriate Black or African culture by wearing African clothing, hairstyles, or exhibiting any stereotypically “Black” styles or practices. If invited to celebrate Juneteenth by Black people, make sure that you are doing so in a respectful way.