Making Juneteenth a State Holiday
When the Utah State Legislature returns to session on the third Monday of January - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - one of its first orders of business could establish a new state holiday. Although the state has a fairly small African American population, Democratic Representative Neil Hansen wants to send the message that Utah respects its African American population by establishing a holiday recognizing Juneteenth.
Juneteenth recognizes the day Texas slaves were told they were freed by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in rebelling states beginning Jan. 1, 1863. It did not affect slaves in Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware and parts of Virginia and Louisiana that were under federal control at the time. But slaves in Galveston, Texas, didn't know they were freed until June 19, 1865, about two months after the Civil War ended. That day has become known as Juneteenth Day.Juneteenth is often viewed as a second independence day. Although the country gained independence on July fourth, African Americans were still slaves at the time. There are 19 states who already acknowledge Juneteenth as a holiday, and it's a paid holiday in Texas. The sole African American member of the Utah state legislature, Rep. Duane Bordeaux (D), who retired earlier this year, worked with Hansen on this legislation that is receiving support from various places.
"I applaud [Hansen] for doing it. We most certainly will get behind it and lobby for its passage," said Jeanetta Williams, president of Salt Lake branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
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