United States Congress and the United States President acted with extraordinary quickness this week in approving Juneteenth as a federal holiday, a move that sent several US states scrambling to elucidate their policies on the adherence with less than a business day’s notice.
About all US states recognize Juneteenth in some fashion, at least on paper. But most states have been slow to move beyond the governor’s issued proclamations or legislator’s passed resolutions.
At least seven US states, Louisiana, New York, Illinois, Virginia, Texas, and Washington DC, have designated it in law as the official ‘paid state holiday.’
LMH Health’s Office of Health Equity Advancement celebrates our nation’s movement toward the profoundly meaningful declaration of June 19, also known as Juneteenth, as a Federal holiday. pic.twitter.com/PH92fEJmEg
— LMH Health (@lmhorg) June 18, 2021
2021 alone, lawmakers to officially recognize Juneteenth died in South Dakota and Florida an is stalled in Ohio, all states controlled by GOPs. However, in Maryland, where Democrats control the legislature, a Juneteenth bill approved House only to die in the other.
Some handful states headed into Thursday’s signing of the federal Juneteenth law with a paid holiday on the books to be celebrated this year. The governors of Louisiana, Illinois, and Washington, all signed more recent regulations that were set to kick in for next year, adding to the jumbled rollout.
A Black Columbus Democratic State Sen. Hearcel Craig is sponsoring the bill making Juneteenth a paid holiday in Ohio. On Friday, he said that it remains essential that legislators pass the legislation even after the declaration of the federal holiday. Furthermore, his bill cleared the Ohio Senate unanimously previous session, but time ran out for its deliberation in the House.
He said of GOPs who control both legislative chambers of Ohio that is Lincoln’s party. Moreover, he said that his hope and expectation is that Ohio would choose to be the leader in the quest to honor the Black history and the drive toward a more equitable world. Furthermore, he said that Ohio could and should be a leader concerning that issue. It concerns not only African-Americans but for all US people. Black history is US history.
Source: Web
Jim Justice, Governor of West Virginia, held a virtual press conference after United States President’s bill signing on Thursday to declare Juneteenth an official state holiday. However, New Jersey passed a Juneteenth holiday in September. Since 1996, Minnesota has documented the 3rd Saturday in June as the Juneteenth holiday.
Chief diversity officer of the Minneapolis-based bank, Greg Cunningham, wrote in a blog post that Juneteenth is an opportunity for all American people to pause and reflect. In spite of the painful origins of that holiday, its significance and what they as a nation stopped by ending lawful slavery should be celebrated by all.
Read Also: US House Passes a Bill, 415-14, To Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday
