Celebrating Juneteenth
Madam Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman so much for her incredible leadership on this issue and so many others. We appreciate all that she does, and we appreciate her steadfast and steady hand of guidance and leadership for the people of…
Madam Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman so much for her incredible leadership on this issue and so many others. We appreciate all that she does, and we appreciate her steadfast and steady hand of guidance and leadership for the people of America.
Madam Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to address this body. On Freedom's Eve, January 1, 1863, enslaved and free African Americans gathered across the country, awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. When the clock struck midnight, their prayers were answered, as it was declared that all enslaved people in Confederate States were legally free.
While the 13th Amendment did end slavery under the law, not all who were enslaved were immediately freed. It took more than 2 years for the freedom to reach everyone when the Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, to announce that more than 250,000 people within the State were free.
It was this day, June 19, 1865, that we mark as the true day of freedom from the tyranny and oppression of slavery and the first steps into the Reconstruction era. We now honor this day, June 19, as Juneteenth.
While Juneteenth is a historic day that has been widely known and celebrated by African Americans for over a century, it is clear that many Americans still are unaware of the significance of this historic date. In the wake of the demonstrations that took place last summer, many Americans were faced with the uncomfortable truth regarding our country's fraught racial history.
The word ``Juneteenth'' entered our Nation's lexicon at a time when Americans were left to reconcile their daily lives with our daily struggles. It was a time set aside for reflection, for learning, for mourning, and for upheaval. Juneteenth marks the day that we as a nation were truly able to end the insidious practice of slavery and begin to move forward to a better world. It also marks that our country still struggles and must live up to its promise.
Representative John Lewis was an American icon, a civil rights leader, and one of my personal heroes. In this Congress, we prepare to hear a bill in his name that expands voting rights, the very thing he was asked for as he crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge decades ago.
In 2021, we continue to speak out and fight against systemic racism as its vestiges of voter suppression, redlining, gerrymandering, and other Jim Crow relics still erode our democracy today.
What makes America great is our diversity. It is our ability to see and understand issues from the many different perspectives that encompass our populace. While America has broken some promises in the past, we, America collectively, have the ability and the potential to rectify our past wrongs. We strive to improve; we work to grow; and we push to remediate our problems and make them better.
As of today, 47 States have declared Juneteenth a State holiday. My native State of Louisiana recently signed into law that Louisiana will now recognize Juneteenth as a State holiday. I am very proud of that measure, and I am very proud of our Governor, John Bel Edwards, for signing that measure into law. I am very proud of the legislators who fought to bring it forward.
I am grateful for the steps that we have taken to recognize the history behind Juneteenth and to honor its legacy. That is why I believe that Juneteenth should be a federally observed holiday. This is America, and despite all of our many challenges, America continues to be the world's greatest nation.
For this reason, I am optimistic about our future and optimistic about our corrections. Together, we can make our world a better place and uphold the promise of freedom and justice for all.