Are you unsure about what Juneteenth is and why you should care about a Federal holiday in the US? Juneteenth is a long time regional holiday that has been celebrated in mostly South US states to celebrate the emancipation of slaves and the end of slavery.

The day marks June 19th in 1865 when the Confederate state surrendered at the end of the American Civil War when a Union General arrived in Texas and informed a group of enslaved African Americans about their freedom under Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.

The date was declared a holiday by the state of Texas in 1980 and gradually spread to other states as well. In 2021, 48 states and the District of Columbia in the US recognize the day as a holiday. Every state has their own rules when it comes to holidays which may differ from other states and what the Federal government follows too. The holiday was campaigned mainly by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, for the day to be officially recognized by the federal rules of the land.

Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington state observe the day as a paid holiday. The state of Ohio announced that they will also join this list of states and give state employees a paid holiday to mark the historic day. Despite the celebration of the day now, it marks a tragic history of the country where people were judged on the basis of the colour of their skin for several years.