Group of Democratic senators to propose making Juneteenth national holiday

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said Thursday that Senate Democrats will introduce a measure making Juneteenth a national holiday, the same day Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced he will advance a similar measure.

“Together with my colleagues Cory Booker, Tina Smith and Ed Markey, we are proposing that Juneteenth be a national holiday. And we are dropping that bill saying that Juneteenth should be a national holiday,” Harris told MSNBC’s Joy Reid Thursday, announcing the proposal for the first time.

The holiday, celebrated June 19, marks the anniversary of the day Gen. Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation to formerly enslaved African Americans in Texas, the final state where the 1863 proclamation was read.

All but three states mark the date as either a holiday or an observance, and both Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced they would push for the day to be a state holiday this week.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/503504-group-of-democratic-senators-to-propose-making-juneteenth-national-holiday

[LeftInTX]

1. So does John Cornyn...of course, there is a good chance his opponent might be AA

John Cornyn is one those annoying politicians that does things that sounds good, but have no teeth..Like cutting ribbons for good causes, but not funding them. He knows that Trump will veto this bill if it is congress passes it. He also knows the senate probably won't

[Maribelle]

2. However, the emancipation proclamation only freed slaves in the confederate states.

But slaves in the slave states that did not leave the union were not automatically freed until December 6, 1865, when the 13th amendment abolished slavery. Maybe that's the day that should be a national holiday.

Lincoln only used the emancipation proclamation as bribery to try to keep the union together, indicating if the confederate states stayed in the union their slaves would not be freed.

It's muddy.

From Wikipedia:

A common misconception is that this day marks the end of slavery in the United States. Although this day marks the emancipation of all slaves in the Confederacy, the institution of slavery was still legal and existed in the Union border states after June 19, 1865. Slavery in the United States did not officially end until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States on December 6, 1865, which abolished slavery entirely in all of the U.S. states and territories.

[JudyM]

3. Good info. Hopefully the issue will come up when it's debated in Congress.

[generalbetrayus]

5. I see your point, but the same can be said about celebrating July 4th as Independence Day.

"One of the most widely held misconceptions about the Declaration of Independence is that it was signed on July 4, 1776. In fact, independence was formally declared on July 2, 1776, a date that John Adams believed would be “the most memorable epoch in the history of America.” On July 4, 1776, Congress approved the final text of the Declaration. It wasn’t signed until August 2, 1776."

https://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-declaration-of-independence/fascinating-facts/

[yellowdogintexas]

4. In Kentucky it is the 8th of August. My little hometown had a huge

celebration in the Black community. It was called the "Allensville Homecoming" and folks travelled from all over to come home for that weekend. Baseball games, huge church services, dinner on the grounds. So many families were large and the folks who came back were those who moved North for the good factory jobs or stayed in the military after the war ended. The legendary barbecue lady cooked 2 whole hogs for the 8th (only one for July 4).

We lived out on the highway (which was the route for folks coming down from the North to get into the town then). For some reason, the folks who came down from up North drove Cadillacs of Unusual Colors. If we saw lots of them passing by we knew it was going to be a huge party. Daddy always went to get barbecue early that week!