President Joe Biden signed legislation on Thursday creating a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, saying he believes it will go down as one of the greatest honors he has as president.
June 19 is now the 12th federal holiday. The House voted 415-14 on Wednesday to send the bill to Biden, while the Senate passed the bill unanimously the day before.
“This is a day of profound weight and profound power, a day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take,” Biden said.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — two months after the Confederacy had surrendered. That was also about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Southern states.
It’s the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983. One of the federal holidays, Inauguration Day, happens every four years.
But, progress doesn’t stop there.
People quickly called for other ways of recognising and correcting the hardships that Black people face in America. Among the ideas suggested was reforming the prison system, which disproportionately punishes minorities, and asking for an additional holiday on election day so that people are are less well represented in Washington can have a bigger say in the future of the country.
Here are some of the suggestions people made directly to the president, shortly after he signed the bill into law.
Good job!
— Dixie Diva 🇺🇸 🌊 (@MsDixieDiva8253) June 17, 2021
Now do election day. Ditch Columbus Day.
Love,
America
Thank you. Now, let’s get laws passed protecting us from hate crimes, profiling, and police brutality and actual listed punishment these guys know they’ll get. Us having another day isn’t what we asked for. I live in suburbia and still dont want my sons out walking alone.
— Kaywanda Lamb, The Winning Single Mom (@Kaydyma) June 17, 2021
That's lovely, but how about we end exclusionary zoning, increase enforcement on "steering" in real estate, and prosecute discriminatory financial practices like lowballed assessments and deflated credit scores?
— kpereyra (@kpereyra) June 17, 2021
Now, let's secure voting rights, end mass incarceration, and put an stop to systemic racism in law enforcement, housing, education and health care.
— Rick Larios 🇺🇲 (@ricklarios) June 17, 2021
Great news. Now make sure we can teach about it in schools.
— C.C. Chapman (He/Him) (@cc_chapman) June 17, 2021
Now pass Reparations for the institution of slavery and decades of exploitation of Black lives.
— Brianna Westbrook (@BWestbrookAZ8) June 17, 2021
Now do Election Day as a National Holiday..
— Diane Verhoest (@lfsgd_diane) June 17, 2021
