State offices are closed for a half-day Friday in honor of Juneteenth becoming a legal holiday. Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers marched into Galveston with news of the Emancipation Proclamation which declared slaves freed more than two years before. Baton Rouge Representative Ted James said many do not know the history of the day.
“Even people in the legislature thought that the day on January 1, 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed that slaves were just freed,” said James.
House Bill 554 by Baton Rouge Representative Larry Selders making Juneteenth a state holiday was signed into law on Thursday. President Biden also signed legislation making it a federal holiday. James said it’s a momentous occasion.
“To see that the Congress has followed the lead of Louisiana is also encouraging for us to be a leader in something and be not on the back end but be on the front end is very exciting,” said James.
During a George Floyd protest organized by high school students at the state capitol last summer, James said it was those students who asked for Juneteenth to become a state holiday.
“To make a request and that request to be honored, it’s probably one of the proudest moments that I’ve had as a legislator in ten years,” said James.
Beginning in 2022 all state offices will be closed for the holiday.
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