Santa Clara County Celebrates First Juneteenth as a County Holiday
This year, Santa Clara County is celebrating its first Juneteenth as a paid county holiday after becoming the first County in the state to pass a resolution for the holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. It will be celebrated every June 19th, which means most county offices will close and most county employees will have a paid day off. (As Juneteenth falls on a Saturday this year, County employees will have today off.)
Supervisor Cindy Chavez, State Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) - who proposed Juneteenth as a County holiday during his time as a Santa Clara County Supervisor - and Milan Balinton, Executive Director of the African American Community Service Agency, spoke about the historic significance of recognizing Juneteenth at a news conference earlier this morning.
“This idea was born out of dialogue between social justice and civil rights leaders here in Santa Clara County, precipitated, in part, by protests and demonstrations demanding justice for George Floyd across the nation,” said Senator Cortese. “As we continue to confront social, economic, and racial inequality and remain steadfast in our commitment to advancing justice for everyone, recognizing Juneteenth brings us one step closer toward true equity and representation.”
This week, we saw our federal government follow Santa Clara County’s lead by making Juneteenth a federal public holiday – President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday yesterday.
“Juneteenth in Santa Clara County and across the nation is going to be a celebration and hopefully inspire helpful, healing conversations about racial issues. That is what is needed to make some progress,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez.
The African American Community Service Agency has been hosting their 40th Annual Juneteenth Celebrations the week of June 13th to June 19th.
Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. Though the Emancipation Proclamation was passed by President Abraham Lincoln in January 1865, it wasn't until June 19th, 1865 that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the emancipation of the last remaining enslaved people in the country.