Like every country, globally, the United States has a culture that is deeply rooted in the history of important events or people that have left their mark and influenced the country to make it what it is today, whether socially or economically. To remember these important events and figures of the country, certain days are marked as special and made as national holidays for the rest to pay our respects to past events or figures. Some important public holidays in American culture include; Independence Day, celebrated annually on July 4th, and Memorial Day, celebrated on the last Monday of May, and is revered as a national day of remembrance for the lives lost in the Civil War. There’s also Labor Day, which was started in 1886 and focuses on celebrating the achievements of the working people within the United States. Veterans Day, observed November 11, and is a day to honor the veterans and soldiers in the United States Armed Forces and many more. These are very important to American history, and there is no doubt that the celebrations held during days are for remembering events or people that have influenced the type of country that America has become. But a day that unfortunately is just now getting the national attention it deserves, is Juneteenth, and with the current movement centered around Black struggles within the United States, Juneteenth should be federal.
Juneteenth (Which is a combination of June and nineteenth) also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, as well as Emancipation Day, is a holiday within the African American community that celebrates the liberation of slaves in the United States. With roots in Texas, the holiday is especially commemorating Union Army General Gordon Granger, who announced the Federal orders in Galveston Texas on June 19. 1865 saying "all people held as slaves in Texas were free".
The first celebrations of the holiday started in 1866, but soon spread across the Southern African American Community and started to gain some traction in the late 1920s and into the 1930s, often centering around food. Although the celebration of the Holiday lost its traction during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, by the mid-1970's, the holiday once again became an important celebration of the era fueled by the focus on African American freedom and arts. As of now in the 21st century, Juneteenth is celebrated across most states in the country with some recognizing the Holiday as paid day of rest and others who do not acknowledge it all which includes; Hawaii, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Juneteenth should be made a federal holiday because it will allow America to finally come to terms with its less than ideal history, as well as its treatment of black people within its borders. While the actual date of Juneteenth does not coincide with the actual abolishment of slavery in the United States (December 6, 1865), the meaning behind the holiday is what is important. At one point in time slavery was very important to the economic structure of the United States, especially in the southern region of the country. During the peak of the slave trade within the country and even up until it ended the Africans that were brought over were not viewed as people, rather cattle and property that could have been treated in any way. This view of Africans within the United States is what had a direct effect on how African Americans have been treated in this country, as well as the systematic racism faced every day.
As the late writer, James Balwldin, once said; "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced", and facing its less than ideal past is something the United States needs to formally come out and acknowledge, because without coming to terms about the past the country is unable to move forward and tackle today’s issues. While Juneteenth is primarily celebrated within the African American community, the holiday should be celebrated nationally, because it acknowledges the less than ideal start that people of African descent have had to deal with within this country, as well as celebrating the many achievements and contributions black people have given its society. Ranging from music, technology, medicine, and social change, the black community has always been given less, and yet always come through with more, and this understanding should formally be recognized and celebrated, not only within the African American Community, but the entirety of the United States as well. The US has a massive population of people who have different backgrounds and cultures. A large share of that population is of African descent and direct descendants of the individuals who fought hard for quality during the Civil Rights Movement. By making Juneteenth a federal holiday, it allows us, as a whole, to take a step back and focus on how our history has got us to where we are right now and what steps can we take to ensure we are never at this point again.
