Congress votes overwhelmingly to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Last edited Wed Jun 16, 2021, 08:18 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Washington Post
Congress on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday, elevating the day marking the end of slavery in Texas to a national commemoration of emancipation amid a larger reckoning about Americas turbulent history with racism.
It is the first new federal holiday created by Congress since 1983, when lawmakers voted to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day after a 15-year fight to commemorate the assassinated civil rights leader.
The Congressional fight to establish Juneteenth as a national holiday was, in comparison, a relatively rapid affair approved Wednesday by the House just a day after a bill establishing the holiday moved suddenly and unanimously through the Senate. The push to establish June 16 as a national holiday celebrating emancipation only gained serious traction last year, as the nation erupted in turmoil over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Juneteenth is a recognition that darkness can come to light, that there is a celebration as my forefathers and mothers struggled to endure the horror they experienced, said Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), a longtime proponent of the holiday. And so celebrating Juneteenth as a national holiday is simply an idea whose time has come.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/juneteenth-federal-holiday/2021/06/16/7be284d8-ceba-11eb-a7f1-52b8870bef7c_story.html
Full headline: Congress votes overwhelmingly to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. The day commemorates the end of slavery in Texas in 1865.
ETA - the House vote was 415 to 14. The article also noted (and I think most of us remember this well) that it took 15 years to get the MLK holiday and that was finally passed under Raygun in 1983. And then when they did it, they combined Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays to be "President's Day", IIRC to keep it at 10 Federal holidays.
greatauntoftriplets
(175,742 posts)Danny Davis is my congressman.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)First time Ive heard him quoted in years.
greatauntoftriplets
(175,742 posts)I'm on his email list and get updates from his new chief of staff. But I haven't seen him quoted in the Tribune, or any national publications.
Speaking of the Tribune, have you heard that Eric Zorn and a number of other big names are leaving? Not John Kass, of course.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)Were going to cancel our subscription soon
greatauntoftriplets
(175,742 posts)I'm considering canceling, too.
no_hypocrisy
(46,130 posts)dweller
(23,642 posts)to say it will be illegal to celebrate it, talk about it, or teach its history
✌🏻
LenaBaby61
(6,974 posts)😂😂
madamesilverspurs
(15,805 posts)Last edited Wed Jun 16, 2021, 09:03 PM - Edit history (1)
One of those eminently memorable moments so long in coming. Somewhere John Lewis is smiling.
.
BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)Apparently the usuals weren't paying attention to put a block on it and/or find some way to slow it down and drag it out.
TlalocW
(15,384 posts)Coming from John McCain's grave.
TlalocW
smb
(3,473 posts)Several House conservatives rose Wednesday to lodge objections based on the formal name of the bill creating the holiday, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. That, they said would detract from the significance of July 4, and one member, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), said it would create confusion and push Americans to pick one of those two days as their independence day
IcyPeas
(21,893 posts)No votes
Biggs
Brooks
Clyde
DesJarlais
Gosar
Jackson
LaMalfa
Massie
McClintock
Norman
Rogers (Ala.)
Rosendale
Roy
Tiffany
Link to tweet
greatauntoftriplets
(175,742 posts)BradAllison
(1,879 posts)"Party of Lincoln, blah blah blah".
I know Trump supporters who claim while steaming about BLM "the blacks" do not appreciate what white people have done for them. Specifically "we" freed them.
joetheman
(1,450 posts)Cha
(297,323 posts)appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(145,335 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)as soon as he signs it, it goes into effect and tomorrow will be a federal holiday.
It took 3 years after signature before the MLK holiday was effective, and finally observed per that legislation (in 1986, which was early in my federal career).
MichMan
(11,939 posts)Why is tomorrow the holiday?
BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)MichMan
(11,939 posts)My point is still the same. Shouldn't the holiday be Saturday then?
BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)and this is standard for holidays with "fixed" dates like -
Christmas Day - December 25
New Year's Day - January 1
Independence Day - July 4
Veteran's Day - November 11
where if that DATE falls on a Saturday, then the holiday is celebrated on the Friday before and if it occurs on a Sunday, then the holiday is celebrated on that following Monday.
"Juneteenth" is being designated as a "fixed" date holiday of June 19th and it will be celebrated on a business day of the week (Monday - Friday).
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,350 posts)Is it a full-blown "most people get the day off" holiday, like Labor Day?
Is it a "government worker" holiday, like Columbus Day, where most non-government workers still work, but no mail is delivered?
Or is it a holiday "in name only" where everyone goes to work, like Veterans Day?
BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)The key thing here is that federal functions (except for emergencies, critical, special events, etc) are CLOSED on a federal holiday and that would include this one.
I.e., post offices and other federal offices will be closed.
That is why I did the jaw drop. The last holiday was MLK's Birthday and that was signed in 1983 (after 15 years to get there) and went into effect in 1986.
ETA to note that "Veteran's Day" is a federal holiday where post offices, etc are closed but like New Year's and Christmas Day, is a "fixed" date and will move around through different days of the week each year. In those cases, if the fixed date is on a Saturday, the day celebrated is that Friday and if it is on Sunday, the day celebrated will be that following Monday.
bucolic_frolic
(43,192 posts)Not to diminish it with a snarky comment, but we are adding holidays over time. Soon there'll be one almost every month. Why did they combine Washington and Lincoln birthdays into one?
Are we slowly moving to a 4 day workweek, living off accumulating technology? Because there isn't enough work for everyone at 40 hours per.
BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)they insisted they were only going to have "10" federal holidays. So they combined the holidays for Washington's and Lincoln's birthday (both in February) to be "President's Day" to make way for the MLK holiday.
So it was doubly shocking to me that they are leaving it at 11.
IMHO they need to make Election Day (general election) a holiday.
bucolic_frolic
(43,192 posts)So predictable.
BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)But as a note, theoretically "federal" holidays impact federal functions only and everyone else ("private" ) is free to ignore them. I.e., all the stores open on Thanksgiving Day (a federal holiday) or Memorial Day (a federal holiday), etc.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,504 posts)Super excited to share my first freelance piece for
@TexasMonthly
: In Galveston, the birthplace of Juneteenth, a mural now stands honoring the history.
"Everybody and their mama needs to know what Juneteenth is about," says Reginald Adams, the artist.
Link to tweet
BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)for a work-related trip. The fireants weren't pretty.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,504 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,127 posts)the following year and the forecast for the week was -
Monday - partly cloudy, high 95
Tuesday - partly cloudy, high 96
Wednesday - mostly sunny, high 95
Thursday... well you get the picture...
At least the water in the Gulf was something like 85F.