Juneteenth Becoming A Federal Holiday Celebrates Progress And Freedom

Almost two weeks ago, Congress approved Juneteenth as a federal holiday. The day celebrates the end of slavery in the United States and it also reminds us about how emancipation was delayed for many enslaved people.

Juneteenth received its name because June 19 of 1865 was the day when a group of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally learned they were free. That was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Fourteen congressmen and congresswomen voted against making Juneteenth a federal holiday, but the House of Representatives approved the bill with 415 votes in favor. 

Juneteenth has been celebrated since the late 19th century. 

Civil rights leader Opal Lee, who is 94 years old, has been working on making it a national holiday since 2016.

During the reconstruction period, Jim Crow laws were enacted to exclude Black residents from white society and restrict their civil rights. Until today, Black people continue to face marginalization, discrimination and violence at the hands of the authorities.

Although progress was accomplished by Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday will allow more people to be educated on the price of freedom. We should never go back to treating people the way slaves were treated. 

As Barack Obama once tweeted: “[Juneteenth is] a celebration of progress. It’s an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history, change is possible—and there is still so much work to do.”