19th June 1865 - African American slaves were told they were free in Galveston, Texas, following the defeat of the South in the civil war fought over slavery. It would become known as Juneteenth, with the liberation occurring two and a half years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared enslaved people to be set free.

Today, things are unquestionably changing at The White House without mentioning the obvious. Congress has moved swiftly in passing legislation last week to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, and to celebrate freedom. President Joe Biden signed the bill (after an overwhelming vote in The Senate) on Thursday 17th, before it came into effect on the 19th. In addressing the new legislation, Biden noted that “great nations don’t ignore the most painful moments. They don’t ignore those moments in the past. They embrace them,” aiming to encourage Americans to learn and celebrate the progress following their painful past.

The push for the holiday was considerably catapulted following the racial justice protests that spread across 2020, and reignited the interest in the deep-rooted racism that continues to exist across the country. While forty-seven U.S states have now implemented a Juneteenth acknowledgement, Texas has made this a paid holiday for public employees. In addition, it has reignited the pressure to ban teaching critical race theory to students that focuses on how the foundations of systematic racism has formed the basis of American society. It is a step forward for the Vice-President Kamala Harris who has fought for greater equality, noting “today is a day of celebration.”

African Americans are celebrating the step forward with the newly introduced legislation. Source: ABC News

Nike, Uber, Twitter and various other companies have since announced that their employees will be entitled to a paid holiday for Juneteenth to commemorate, after the law was co-sponsored by a then senator of Illinois Barack Obama and was never passed despite his presidency. It is the first newly introduced holiday since Martin Luther King Jr Day was enacted in 1983, with a Kentucky dissident of the legislation claiming that Juneteenth will “create confusion and push Americans to pick one of those two days as their independence day based on their racial identity.”

Opal Lee (left) pictured with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Source: BBC

The BLM movement that intensified last year undoubtedly bolstered pressure to introduce the federal legislation, with many Republican states continuing to push for “patriotic education” favoured by the former Trump Administration that sought to minimise the curriculums that taught students that its nation is founded on slavery. Frustrated with the lack of change, 89-year-old Opal Lee walked from Texas to Washington DC in 2016 to influence lawmakers for change, walking 2.5 miles (4km) per day to represent the two and a half years it took for the enslaved in Texas to learn the news they had been freed. She explained her delight as “it’s not a Texas thing or a black thing. It’s an American thing.”

While modes of celebration will vary, many states have hosted parades, singing, rodeos, concerts and gatherings over the weekend as the U.S celebrated its first officially acknowledged Juneteenth. And Juneteenth is not complete without its most famous celebrated dish “the Marcus Garvey salad”, named after a black activist that is made with red, green and black beans.

But you may also be wondering, why Texas? The Confiscation Act was passed in 1862, authorising Union troops to seize Confederate property that included enslaved persons. After its amendment in 1863 to include “all persons held as slaves…are, and henceforth, shall be free,” it was not ratified (allowing states to be bound by the legislation) until December 1865; it therefore took two years for the law to come into effect to free slaves. Those in Texas did not learn of these freedoms until three months after the Civil War had ended when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston declaring all slaves are free. However, masters on plantations were given an option on when and how to announce the news, giving them a sense of freedom to continue enslaving the 250, 000 in Texas.

On January 1, 1980, Juneteenth was officially recognised as a state holiday in Texas while other states continued to “commemorate” the day, until now. It has been referred to as Emancipation Day, National Freedom Day, Black Independence Day, Jubilee Day and Juneteenth Independence Day. It has been widely misunderstood due to the lack of education in schools surrounding the day, given the intense focus that is placed on white history. The stereotypes surrounding Black people today are deep-rooted in slavery, as we have seen just last year with the disproportionate killings of Black people by law enforcement personnel.

So although a newly introduced holiday cannot erase the trauma that 4 million slaves endured for more than 250 years, it has opened the dialogue in addressing inequality and is another step forward. With celebrations erupting across the country over the weekend following a year of intense protests, the nation continues to heal.

Juneteenth celebrations in 1905, Richmond VA. Source: Virginia News