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Juneteenth: From local celebration to federal holiday

By Michael Gryboski, Editor

2021

President Joe Biden joined by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2021.
President Joe Biden joined by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2021. | Adam Schultz

President Joe Biden signed the "Juneteenth National Independence Day Act" into law on June 17, 2021, two days before Juneteenth was to be observed.

The new law designated the observance as the 12th federal holiday, the first to be added to the calendar since 1983, when President Ronald Reagan established Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday.

In remarks made at the signing of the "Juneteenth National Independence Day Act," Biden said the holiday “marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation and a promise of a brighter morning to come.”

“You know, today, we consecrate Juneteenth for what it ought to be, what it must be: a national holiday,” Biden added. “I’m especially pleased that we showed the nation that we can come together as Democrats and Republicans to commemorate this day with the overwhelming bipartisan support of the Congress.”

“I hope this is the beginning of a change in the way we deal with one another.”  

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