By Karen Stokes
On Juneteenth, the Biden-Harris Administration was proud to celebrate and honor Black history as they remain deeply committed to always uplifting and protecting it.
Although Juneteenth has been an official state holiday in Texas since 1980, it has only been a federal holiday since 2021.
A bill to solidify Juneteenth National Independence Day as a legal public holiday passed almost unanimously through both chambers of Congress before being signed by President Biden on June 17, 2021.
Juneteenth Day commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that the Civil War had ended and all enslaved individuals were now free. This announcement came more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued by President Abraham Lincoln.
The White House hosted a concert, on June 10th on the White House South Lawn in celebration of Juneteenth featuring Gladys Knight, Patti Labelle, Kirk Franklin, Raheem DeVaughn, and many others.
The president described the holiday as “a day to remember the original sin of slavery and the extraordinary capacity to merge the most powerful moments and most painful moments with a better vision for ourselves.”
“One of my proudest moments as President was signing into law Juneteenth as a new Federal holiday — the first Federal holiday to be established since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, four decades prior. Juneteenth is an acknowledgment of the truth of our Nation’s history. It is about realizing the idea that America was founded on: All people are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives,” President Biden said.
“Joe Biden offers freedom: freedom to vote, freedom of reproductive rights, the kinds of freedom people hold dear. The other side offers favor: You vote for me, and I will favor you in this way, that way, or the other. What are you going to do for my communities, for my family, for me personally? That is something that the other side has failed to put forward. So I’m telling you, this campaign is about freedom versus favor.” said Representative Jim Clyburn on MSNBC Morning Joe.
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said, “As we celebrate Juneteenth and reflect on the resilience of Black Americans, we must recognize that the struggle for Black liberation is not confined to any particular moment but rather an ongoing, long-term movement for civil rights. We must be the civil rights leaders of our generation and continue the journey toward freedom and equality that started long before us.”
Harrison continued, “President Biden has been one of the most transformative presidents for Black America. He changed our primary calendar to elevate Black voices. He was the first president to appoint a Black woman to the vice presidency, and the U.S. Supreme Court. On the student loans that disproportionately impact Black people, Joe Biden has led on that, he’s also had the lowest unemployment rate in Black America ever. He’s tackling issues important to Black America, like health care costs. We’ve seen just recently the announcement about medical debt – taking that off credit reports because that has kept so many Black Americans from really living the American dream. Homeownership programs and Black businesses are growing at an astronomical pace – the fastest growth in 30 years… This is a president that’s had a definitive plan for how to make sure that there’s equity brought to Black America.”
Biden and Trump are the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees.
According to Newsweek and other publications, Trump had not personally issued a statement about Juneteenth by publication Thursday.