Juneteenth National Independence Day

By: Miriam Edelman

Juneteenth National Independence Day (June 19^th), which celebrates the termination of slavery, marks the day African-Americans in Texas were notified of their freedom. The Day has been linked to support for statehood for Washington, D.C. Many people in Texas had not known about the Emancipation Proclamation that freed slaves in confederate states in 1863 until more than two years later because Texas was isolated. Juneteenth is also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Liberation Day.  

The National Organization for Women (NOW) has celebrated Juneteenth for years. On https://now.org/juneteenth-resources-and-celebration/, NOW provided a Juneteenth Spotify playlist and other resources, including lists of books, movies, TV shows, “[a]nti-racism resources,”  and more. NOW began its 2025 press release, entitled “NOW Celebrates Juneteenth” with, “Juneteenth isn’t just a date on the calendar—it’s a powerful reminder that freedom isn’t free—it’s been fought for, delayed, denied, and taken back.” It ended the release with, “Juneteenth is a call to action, learning, and reflection that we must continue to answer today and every day.”

After decades of efforts to make Juneteenth a holiday (It had been a state holiday in some states and is a state holiday in most states now), President Joe Biden in 2021 signed legislation that made Juneteenth the U.S.’s eleventh federal holiday and the first one since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.

At the White House signing ceremony of this historic legislation on June 17, 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S.’s first female, first African-American, and first Asian-American Vice President, noted that the Senate passed the bill unanimously. In the current times of major political divisions, the House passed the legislation by a vote of 415 Yeas to 14 Nays. Harris talked about Juneteenth:

“As we establish Juneteenth as our newest national holiday, let us be clear about what happened on June 19th, 1865, the day we call Juneteenth, because you see that day was not the end of slavery in America. Yes, on that day, the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, learned that they were free, but in fact, two and a half years earlier, the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the Confederacy….Think about that. For more than two years, the enslaved people of Texas were kept in servitude. For more than two years, they were intentionally kept from their freedom. For more than two years, and then, on that summer day, 156 years ago, the enslaved people of Texas learned the news. They learned that they were free and they claimed their freedom. It was indeed an important day.”

Two years is much shorter than the 200+ years that D.C. residents, the plurality of whom are African-Americans, have been treated as sub-par American citizens. D.C. residents have not truly been granted the rights of full citizenship.

A little later during the signing ceremony, Biden noted the strong bipartisan support for creating Juneteenth: “I'm especially pleased that we showed the nation that we can come together as Democrats and Republicans to commemorate this day with the overwhelming bipartisan support of the Congress.”

Likewise, the U.S. can come together around D.C., as it has in the past. In the 1970s, D.C. gained its limited home rule from Democratic-controlled Congress (both chambers) and Republican President Richard Nixon. DCNOW’s blog piece entitled “Trying to End Home Rule” discussed the creation of D.C.’s home rule. DCNOW’s blog piece entitled “Presidents’ Day is Reminder of Prior Strong Bipartisan Support for D.C. Residents” reported that “[t]he political party platforms of both Democrats and Republicans of 1960 called for voting rights for D.C. residents.” The 23^rd Amendment, which granted D.C. residents votes in the Electoral College for President, was passed in the second-most quickly ratified amendment.

D.C. statehood advocates have connected Juneteenth to D.C. statehood. In 2019, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released the following statement about Juneteenth:

“As we commemorate when the last slaves got word the final bondage of slavery was lifted, we must remember that America has a long way to travel before we reach a true representative democracy. The District of Columbia celebrates its Emancipation Day on April 16 because slaves in the District were freed nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation. Yet to this day, our residents do not have equal representation in our own Congress or full self-government.”

“Juneteenth reminds us that work toward full equality remains undone, particularly for the District of Columbia. When the last of our ancestors were finally freed in Texas, many had not been informed. Today, we all know we must recommit to breaking down these remaining barriers to full equality.”

In 2021, when the House passed a bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, Norton’s Floor remarks were:

“Today's bill making Juneteenth, when the last slaves got word that slavery had ended, a federal holiday has unique meaning for the District of Columbia because the slaves here were the first, not the last, to be freed. The reason, of course, is that the District was and is a federally controlled jurisdiction. The District celebrates the emancipation of slaves here on April 16 every year.

“Juneteenth should remind Congress that it's time for the first to be freed to finally become equal to other Americans. The House understands that with its passage of the D.C. statehood bill. So does the Senate, with a hearing on our D.C. statehood bill scheduled for next Tuesday, June 22.”

“With the President, the House, and the Senate all believing that the residents of their nation's capital should in every way be equal to other Americans, we rejoice this Juneteenth knowing that we are close to adding the 51st star to the flag.”

In 2022, on the second Juneteenth as a federal holiday, Norton wrote the following on social media:

“Today, on Juneteenth, I remember my great-grandfather Richard Holmes, who, as a slave, walked away from a plantation in Virginia and made his way to DC almost 200 years ago.”

“A walk to freedom but not to equal citizenship yet for DC residents. #DCStatehood”

In 2023, the League of Conservation Voters issued a blog piece, entitled “Celebrating Juneteenth, and the Continued Fight for Black Voting Rights.” That post ended with a call for D.C. statehood:

“And, DC needs to become a state.”

“Advocates have long pushed for DC statehood, which would make DC the Blackest state in the U.S. DC’s lack of representation and local autonomy is part of our nation’s wider practice of oppression and disenfranchisement of Black people. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton was a Civil Rights Movement leader and now serves as DC’s delegate in Congress, where she can help draft legislation but not vote. Follow Congresswoman Norton, who is leading the fight for DC statehood, on Twitter @EleanorNorton. And, tell Congress, DC voters deserve equal rights here!”

On June 17, 2026, civil rights leader Wade Henderson penned an opinion piece entitled “Juneteenth, America at 250, and the Hole in the Soul of Our Democracy.” He began:

“As Americans prepare to celebrate Juneteenth and the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, we should take pride in the extraordinary progress our country has made toward becoming a more perfect union. But these milestones also demand honesty. They require us to confront the Supreme Court’s recent gutting of the Voting Rights Act, one of the most consequential civil rights laws ever enacted, as well as another glaring contradiction that remains a hole in the soul of America: more than 700,000 citizens living in the nation’s capital are still denied full voting representation in Congress.”

After writing that Juneteenth “is a reminder that freedom delayed is freedom denied, and that America has too often failed to extend its promises equally to all its people,” Henderson continued:

“The residents of Washington, D.C., know that reality all too well.”

“The citizens of the District pay federal taxes, serve on juries, own businesses, volunteer in their communities, and fight in America’s wars. More than 200,000 veterans call the District home. D.C. residents contribute billions of dollars annually to the federal treasury. Yet they have no voting representation in either chamber of Congress. They are governed by lawmakers they cannot elect and whose decisions they cannot ultimately influence through the ballot box.”

“That reality violates the fundamental democratic principle that has defined our nation since its birth: no taxation without representation.”

Henderson strongly advocated for D.C. statehood:

“The case for D.C. statehood is not only constitutional and moral; it is also practical.”

“Statehood also makes economic sense. The District possesses a larger economy than many states, generates substantial tax revenue, and has demonstrated the capacity to govern itself responsibly. Residents contribute to the nation’s prosperity while being denied an equal voice in the legislative decisions that affect their lives.”

At Juneteenth celebrations on at least June 19, 2024, and on June 19, 2026, D.C. League of Women Voters volunteers assisted with D.C. statehood. They were tasked with providing “information on DC Statehood” and other issues.

Call to Action

At the 2021 signing ceremony that made Juneteenth a federal holiday, Biden said the following about Juneteenth:

“To honor the true meaning of Juneteenth, we have to continue toward that promise [of equality] because we've not gotten there yet.

“And that's why we must understand that Juneteenth represents not only the commemoration of the end of slavery in America more than 150 years ago, but the ongoing work to have to bring true equity and racial justice into American society, which we can do. In short, this day doesn't just celebrate the past; it calls for action today.”

“True equity and racial justice” still have not been achieved in the U.S. As the U.S. approaches its 250^th birthday, D.C. residents still experience taxation without representation. D.C. residents pay taxes but do not have full voting representation in the U.S. Congress. It is way past time to turn the District of Columbia into the U.S.’s 51^st state.