Biden Makes Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

WASHINGTON (CN) — History was made at the White House on Thursday when President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, making the annual celebration of the end of slavery in the United States a federal holiday.

“Juneteenth marks both a long hard night of slavery and subjugation and a promise of a greater morning to come. This is a day of profound weight and profound power,” Biden said from the East Room of the White House, flanked by the first Black, South Asian and woman vice president.

With the stroke of his pen, the president made the annual June 19 celebration -- formally observed in 48 states and Washington, D.C. -- the 12^th federal holiday on the books.

“Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments. They embrace them. Great nations don’t walk away, we come to terms with the mistakes we made. And remembering those moments, we begin to heal and become stronger,” Biden said.

The last time a new federal holiday was created was nearly 40 years ago, when President Ronald Reagan decreed Martin Luther King Jr. Day to be celebrated on the third Monday of January. It took 15 years after King was assassinated in 1968 for that holiday to come to fruition.

For Juneteenth, the path to federal recognition has been a long one as well.  

Texas lawmaker Al Edwards, who passed away last year, was a pioneering advocate for the celebration commemorating the day in 1865 when General Gordon Granger of the Union Army rode into Galveston, Texas, with thousands of troops beside him.

Granger came to deliver the news to men, women and children still toiling in slavery that they were free, a promise that was made to all enslaved persons two and a half years prior when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Exactly what caused such a long delay is unclear but the lapse in communication to the enslaved in Texas, combined with Civil War and white supremacist enmities still thoroughly permeating the nation and the South in particular, was a perfect conduit for oppression to continue.  

But on June 19, when Granger declared all persons free through General Order. No. 3, the exodus of an estimated 4,000 formerly enslaved people there helped carry the word of Juneteenth to others and a new unwavering tradition was born.

Edwards, a Houston native, argued so fiercely in his career for making June 19 a holiday that he became known as “Mr. Juneteenth.” It was 1980 when Edwards, after much bitter negotiating among state lawmakers, managed to get the day recognized as a state holiday. Texas was the first to do it.

This week, the House and Senate both approved, with overwhelming support, the resolution making Juneteenth a federal holiday, formally recognizing its symbolism and meaning for millions of Black Americans. The Senate was able to pass the resolution unanimously Tuesday but 14 Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against it Wednesday.

GOP objections were mostly focused on the name of the legislation, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar -- who has come under increasing criticism, including from members of his own party like Liz Cheney, for his statements about the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 -- said he voted against the Juneteenth bill because it “does not bring us together.”

“It tears us apart,” Gosar said in a statement after the vote. “I cannot support efforts that further racial divisions in this country. We have one Independence Day and it applies equally to all people of all races.”

Gosar made the remarks after hours of debate on the House floor in which member after member of the Congressional Black Caucus beseeched lawmakers – specifically white ones – to discern the difference and the significance of Juneteenth.

“Getting your independence from being enslaved in a country is different from a country getting independence to rule itself. It is not a day you can loop together. That is inappropriate. It is a day of reflection, commemorating the end of slavery. And it is also the recognition that we have so much work to do to rid this country of systemic racism, discrimination and hate,” Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, a Michigan Democrat, said during debate Wednesday.

Ahead of the bill signing ceremony at the White House Thursday, the Congressional Black Caucus and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gathered in the Capitol. Congressman Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, highlighted the law’s significance by sharing the story of Philip Reid.

Born a slave in South Carolina, Reid was illiterate but his knack for geometry was inherent and he helped early architects of the U.S. Capitol place the unwieldly Statue of Freedom atop its sweeping dome.

“For some strange reason, they could not get it on top of this building. They struggled out on these grounds to get it out there. Philip Reid, though unlearned, came to the rescue,” Clyburn said.

People like Reid are integral to understanding the nation’s history, the South Carolina lawmaker said.

“That’s the story – that’s the story that Juneteenth is all about. It’s a story that needs to be told," Clyburn said.

Opal Lee, a 94-year-old Black woman who has advocated for Juneteenth to be a federal holiday her entire life, was also present at the historic ceremony. Extraordinarily, Lee in 2016 walked from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., in hopes of garnering support from lawmakers at the Capitol to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

Sitting in the front row as Harris introduced her, Biden quickly walked over to Lee and knelt before her where she sat, taking her hands gingerly in his before leaning in to offer his gratitude.

Because June 19 falls on a Saturday this year, White House chief of staff Ronald Klain announced Thursday that Juneteenth will observed on Friday this year, meaning most federal offices will be closed.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit