Tomorrow, people across the U.S. will celebrate Juneteenth. The holiday commemorates the day in 1865 on which enslaved people in Texas learned that the Civil War and their enslavement had ended, two months after the Confederate army surrendered and more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Celebrated as Independence Day by Black Americans, there has been a move in Washington state and at the national level to formally recognize Juneteenth.
Our state will mark Juneteenth as a paid holiday for state employees beginning June 19, 2022 thanks to the tireless work of the legislature this past session. House Bill 1016 was approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on May 13, formally establishing Juneteenth as a legal state holiday. Just yesterday, President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday as well.
Honoring Juneteenth is a small step toward fully acknowledging the lives and labor stolen in the making of America. It is also an opportunity for education about Black history and a continued reckoning with systemic racism still faced by Black Americans today. For further reading, we recommend the following resources as a starting point.