By Julie Peh
Three years after it was made a federal holiday, Juneteenth 2024 marks a day of celebration as well as education. The federal holiday known as “Second Independence Day,” marks the day the last African American slaves were notified that they had been freed from their masters, the National Museum of African American History and Culture said.
Dr. Tim Goler, a professor of urban affairs and sociology courses and director of research for the Center for African American Public Policy at Norfolk State University, told Usa Today that Juneteenth or “Freedom Day” is a day that shows the “beauty of our culture” that everyone should participate in. The origins of Juneteenth date back to June 19, 1865 – more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation – when the Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, Goler said.
“This delay and the enforcement of the emancipation in Texas was due to a lack of enforcement until this general arrived,” Goler said. “Then Juneteenth thus became this kind of powerful symbol of freedom and the long struggle for civil rights.” The Juneteenth National Independence DayAct was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in June 2021. The bill was signed by President Joe Biden on June 17, 2021, which officially made the day a federal holiday.
