Juneteenth is now a Federal Holiday – and a State Holiday in Ohio
June 18, 2021 6:38AM EDT
President Joe Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, June 17, 2021, in Washington. From left, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif, Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., Opal Lee, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., obscured, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Majority Whip James Clyburn of S.C., Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
- Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. President Biden signed legislation creating the holiday during a ceremony at the White House yesterday.
- The President argued there’s much more work to do and said the “sacred right to vote is under attack” in many states.
- For those who don’t know, Juneteenth marks the actual end of slavery in the U.S., more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
- It’s when Union troops marched into Galveston and informed the enslaved people there…that they were free.
- Vice President Kamala Harris called Juneteenth a day of pride and a day of action in the ongoing struggle to achieve racial equality in the U.S.
- The Juneteenth National Independence Day is the first new federal holiday that has been created in decades.
With June 19th being made a federal holiday with the president’s signature yesterday, Governor Mike DeWine says Juneteenth is also a state holiday… And because the date falls on a Saturday this year, TODAY is the day it will be observed, so most state offices and some federal offices are closed today… The governor says he also supports efforts by the state legislature to commemorate Juneteenth.
