Once the Senate opposition to making Juneteenth a federal holiday, the bill moved rapidly through the Senate where it was approved on unanimous consent, and the House of Representatives, where it passed overwhelmingly, with 14 nay votes out of 335 Members.
President Joe Biden signed it into law today, on June 17. Can the federal government move fast enough to actually honor the holiday this year?
This new law inserts Juneteenth in the law governing when flags should be flown for holidays and commemorations — so we might assume without looking too much deeper, we should fly the U.S. flag on Friday, June 18, when the federal holiday is celebrated with a day off, and on Saturday, June 19, the actual date of Juneteenth.
Fly your flag Friday and Saturday, for Juneteenth, noting triumphs of freedom over slavery, accurate information over destructive propaganda, and a great advance in human rights for the world.
Text of the law making Juneteenth a federal holiday; enrolled version from the U.S. Senate.
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Thanks. It’s difficult to figure out what the cultural response is for this holiday, just what it is exactly that we celebrate — and the public law doesn’t tell much beyond that.
Have you read Annette Gordon Reed’s book on Juneteenth?
The book: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631498831
PBS Newshour piece with an interview with Reed: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-on-juneteenth-author-annette-gordon-reed-explores-how-texas-history-shaped-her-life
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It should be a really good Juneteenth celebration this year. Several events are planned again in the Corpus Christi area. Growing up in Texas, I heard about it from an early age. You last paragraph sums it up well. Cheers!
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