Letter about Juneteenth, Minnesota’s newest holiday
To the Editor,
This year, Juneteenth became a Minnesota state holiday to be observed on June 19. It honors that date in 1865 when enslaved Americans in Galveston, Tex., were finally told that they were free — nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth celebrates the idea of freedom embodied in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, and it affirms that slavery directly contradicted those ideas. We invite our neighbors to honor the holiday on June 19.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Fillmore County Discussion on Race.
David Hennessey
Preston, MN
Eva Barr
Wykoff, Minn.