The House passed legislation Wednesday that would establish June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
The 415-14 House vote follows Tuesday’s unanimous approval in the Senate to federally recognize the holiday. All 14 no votes in the House came from Republicans, including Northeast Georgia’s 9th District Congressman Andrew Clyde.
The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
Juneteenth (short for June Nineteenth) honors the end of slavery in the United States. It commemorates the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to free that state’s slaves. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation outlawing slavery in Confederate states more than two and a half years earlier, but it took Union soldiers two months after the war’s end to deliver the word to Texas.
Juneteenth is considered the longest-running African American holiday.
Celebrations have grown in popularity in recent years, as the national conversation has shifted to more critically examine the role slavery played in building the country’s physical and economic infrastructure and how racism has impacted American society.
In 1980, Texas became the first state to observe Juneteenth as a holiday.
This weekend, the Sautee Nacoochee Center in White County will host a two-day Juneteenth celebration. The association will host a series of art exhibits, theatrical and musical performances, and even a scavenger hunt for kids to highlight the observance.
