Wilmington Juneteenth Committee reacts to federal holiday declaration

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — On Thursday, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law declaring Juneteenth a national holiday. Now some in the Cape Fear are reacting.

The holiday celebrates the anniversary of June 19, 1865 when the last enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were notified they were free.

“Juneteenth represents not only the commemoration of the end of slavery in America more than 150 years ago, but the ongoing work to bring true equity and racial justice into American society which we can do,” Biden said Thursday afternoon.

While it’s just now being recognized at the federal level, Juneteenth has been celebrated for years in parts of the US.

In Wilmington, Marsha Graham-Ali is the chair of the city’s Juneteenth Committee. She says to her, Juneteenth is about reflection, education, and energizing the community by celebrating their history.

“Our history has been sort of stifled, we didn’t learn it in school, we weren’t taught that,” Graham-Ali said. “But now I think that the younger people as well as the older people need to go back and find out what has happened in our history because so many events have been covered up.”

Graham-Ali says she feels the national recognition will bring more awareness to historical events not often talked about.

“I think it’s great, I really do,” She said. “I think it’s about time.”

The legislation passed the Senate unanimously and with an overwhelming majority in the House, although 14 House Republicans voted against it.

“I just think that’s the way it is, everybody’s not going to agree to voting for something,” Graham-Ali said. “There’s always going to be some that’s going to be negative about it.”

She feels the holiday should not be about politics, but rather marking the end of a dark time in history.

“To realize that they were free like everyone else had to be one of the greatest feelings in the world after being in chains and treated less than human,” Graham-Ali said.

There are several Juneteenth events taking place in Wilmington over the coming days. You can see the details here and here.