Governor Bill Lee signed a slew of legislation into law last week, including SB0269/HB0317, which makes June 19, or “Juneteenth,” a statewide paid holiday.
The law was sponsored by State Representative William Lamberth (R-Portland) and State Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and passed through the General Assembly in mid-April.
Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates the freeing of slaves in the southern United States, which was officially declared on June 19, 1865, and represents the day the Emancipation Proclamation was enforced by the Union Army.
The newest American holiday was already declared at a federal level, but in Tennessee, it was only a “day of observance” before the new law’s passage.
“On this 155th Anniversary of #Juneteenth, we recognize the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865. I signed a Juneteenth proclamation to honor this day as it represents the promise of a free and just society that is guaranteed for every Tennessean,” Lee said upon announcing the “day of observance” in 2020.
On this 155th Anniversary of #Juneteenth, we recognize the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865. I signed a Juneteenth proclamation to honor this day as it represents the promise of a free and just society that is guaranteed for every Tennessean. pic.twitter.com/5AHRpkVr8y
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) June 19, 2020
“Tomorrow is a reminder that freedom has not always been extended to every life in America. This Juneteenth, may we strive to more fully realize the ideals of our nation & ensure that a free & just society is guaranteed for every Tennessean,” he said last year, posting the same proclamation.
Tomorrow is a reminder that freedom has not always been extended to every life in America. This Juneteenth, may we strive to more fully realize the ideals of our nation & ensure that a free & just society is guaranteed for every Tennessean. pic.twitter.com/D5rmjvQh5t
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) June 18, 2022
Lee aligns himself with President Joe Biden in making the holiday official.
Biden himself did the same at a federal level in 2021.
“You know, today, we consecrate Juneteenth for what it ought to be, what it must be: a national holiday,” Biden said at the time. “As the Vice President noted, a holiday that will join the others of our national celebrations: our independence, our laborers who built this nation, our servicemen and women who served and died in its defense. And the first new national holiday since the creation of Martin Luther King Holiday nearly four decades ago.”
At the time, Biden said that commemorating the holiday was just the beginning of his administration’s work to stave off perceived inequalities.
He said:
That’s why we’ve launched an aggressive effort to combat racial discrimination in housing — finally address the cruel fact that a home owned, to this day, by a Black American family is usually appraised at a lower rate for a similar home owned by a white family in a similar area.
That’s why we committed to increasing Black homeownership, one of the biggest drivers of generational wealth.
That’s why we’re making it possible for more Black entrepreneurs to access — to access capital, because their ideas are as good; they lack the capital to get their fair — and get their fair share of federal contracts so they can begin to build wealth.
That’s why we’re working to give each and every child, three and four years of age, not daycare, but school — in a school.
That’s why — that’s why we’re unlocking the incredibly creative and innovation — innovation of the history — of our Historical Black Colleges and Universities, providing them with the resources to invest in research centers and laboratories to help HBCU graduates prepare and compete for good-paying jobs in the industries of the future.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee. Background Photo “Tennessee State Capitol” by Ken Lund. CC BY-SA 2.0.
