Biden signs bill making Juneteenth, marking the end of slavery, a federal holiday
WASHINGTON, DC (ABC) — President Joe Biden signed a bill Thursday afternoon making Juneteenth a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States — just in time for Saturday’s June 19 anniversary.
It’s a day African Americans have celebrated yearly since the Civil War-era and the culmination of a decades-long effort by advocates to get national recognition for the momentous development in American history.
A jubilant Vice President Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black vice president, who co-sponsored the legislation when she served in the Senate, spoke about the significance of the moment, noting slaves helped build the White House.
“Throughout history, Juneteenth has been known by many names: Jubilee Day. Freedom Day. Liberation Day. Emancipation Day. And today, a national holiday,” Harris said, to cheers and applause in the White House East Room filled with about 80 lawmakers and other guests.
“And looking out across this room, I see the advocates, the activists, the leaders, who have been calling for this day for so long, including the one and only Ms. Opal Lee,” she said, before Biden left the stage and walked over to the 94-year-old Lee to greet her.
In 2016, at 89-years old, Lee walked from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, to the nation’s capital in an effort to get Juneteenth named a national holiday.
Biden then spoke, calling Juneteenth a day of “profound weight and profound power.
“A day in which we remember the moral stain that the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take, what I have long called America’s original sin,” he said.
“By making Juneteenth a federal holiday, all Americans can feel the power of this day and learn from our history and celebrate progress and grapple with the distance we’ve come but the distance we have to travel,” Biden continued.
Biden turned political, raising what he called the “assault” on voting rights.
“You see this assault from restrictive laws, threats of intimidation, voter purges and more,” Biden said. “We can’t rest until the promise of equality is fulfilled for everyone in every corner of this nation. That to me is the meaning of Juneteenth.”
The federal government said most employees will be off this Friday to mark the occasion, around which celebrations have become more mainstream in recent years, taking on added significance last year when the country went through a racial reckoning after the killing of George Floyd.
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