A loophole enables schools to ignore the importance of Juneteenth
Juneteenth memorializes the day when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to announce all enslaved peoples were free upon the surrender of the last Confederate stronghold. More than 150 years later, in 2021, President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a national holiday.
Holidays and memorials remind us of who we are as a country—our past and who we hope to become in the future. Juneteenth celebrations provide the opportunity to remember the real national Independence Day.