Alabama will have to wait another year for the possibility of declaring Juneteenth as a state holiday. The 2023 Legislation Session ended with House Bill 427 (HB427), a proposal for Alabama to include June 19th as a state observation, not passing its first house committee.
Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the day in 1865, when the end of slavery was formally announced to people in Texas. At the time, Texas was the farthest place in the United States. Even though many people probably knew slavery was over by June 1865, the formal announcement of it didn't come until several months after the after the Civil War ended.
Dr. Joshua Rothman is a Professor of History and Chair of the History Department at The University of Alabama. He said making Juneteenth a permanent holiday is more than just getting the day off but is about thinking of the history of Alabama.
“If it's the kind of holiday that we want to use to reflect on history, and on the past and on slavery as an institution, then having it as a state holiday might be a way to keep that kind of conversation and that kind of knowledge going,” he said. “So, I can see how there would be value in having it both being a state holiday and a federal holiday.”
Dr. Rothman said the murder of George Floyd and the activism of the summer of 2020 influenced the awareness of Juneteenth these past years. Floyd was a Black man murdered in 2020 by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death aroused a wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism across the country. Dr. Rothman also said these events may have prompted President Joe Biden to enact the law to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021.
Texas has celebrated Juneteenth as a permanent state holiday since 1980. Since then, other states have gradually recognized June 19 as a permanent holiday. According to Pew Research Center, as of June 2023, 27 states recognize Juneteenth as a permanent state holiday.
Governor Kay Ivey made proclamations in 2021 and 2022 for Juneteenth to be observed in Alabama, but the observance has not become a permanent state holiday. Dr. Rothman said this does not necessarily place Alabama behind compared to other states.
“It didn't become a federal holiday until 2021. So, I think this year will be the third year that it is celebrated as a federal holiday,” he explained. “But honestly, I don't know that Alabama is particularly behind the times on this. Juneteenth was a holiday that was not really widely known outside of Texas for a very long time.”
Historically, people have celebrated Juneteenth in all kinds of different ways. Cookouts, picnics, family reunions and parades are popular forms of celebration. Supporting Black-owned business and learning the full story are other ways people can support Juneteenth.
“It's starting to become something that people use as an opportunity for reflection. Sometimes it's an opportunity for political activism. Sometimes it's an opportunity for community engagement,” Dr. Rothman said. “It seems to me to be morphing not only into a time to celebrate freedom, which is what it's at its core – ought to be, but also something that's a way of kind of engaging activities, not unlike the kinds of things that people do on King Day in January.”
Aljazeera reports President Biden hosted a concert this year on the South Lawn of the White House to commemorate Juneteenth. The news outlet reports the concert also commemorated Black Music Month and featured artists such as Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and singer and talk show host Jennifer Hudson.
