HOUSE RESOLUTION 11

(By Delegates  Rowe and Longstreth)

[Introduced February 17, 2020]

Calling on Congress to recognize June 19 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day.

Whereas, For more than 137 years, Juneteenth National Freedom Day has been the most recognized African American holiday observance in the United States. Also known as “Emancipation Day,” “Emancipation Celebration,” “Freedom Day,” “Jun-Jun,” “Juneteenth Independence Day,” and “Juneteenth,” Juneteenth National Freedom Day commemorates the survival through strength and determination of African Americans, who were first brought to this country stacked in the bottom of slave ships in a month long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, known as the “Middle Passage”; and

Whereas, Approximately 11 1/2 million African Americans survived the voyage to the New World. The number that died is likely greater. For more than 200 years, African American slaves were subjected to whipping, castration, branding, rape and the tearing apart of their families; and

Whereas, While slaves were emancipated in 1862 when then President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation (later issued on January 1, 1863) abolishing slavery, the existence of slavery in the South did not end until June of 1865. Juneteenth commemorates the day that freedom was proclaimed to the last slaves in the South by Union General Gordon Granger, on June 19, 1865; and

Whereas, Juneteenth, June 19, 1865, is celebrated annually in more than 205 cities and is officially recognized in Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming; and

Whereas, In 1997, the United States Congress adopted a joint resolution recognizing Juneteenth as the true independence day for African American citizens; and

Whereas, Americans of all colors, creeds, cultures, religions and countries-of-origin share in a common love of and respect for freedom, as well as a determination to protect their right to freedom through democratic institutions. Juneteenth is part of a cycle of memorials to freedom and independence observed in America annually that culminates with the 4th of July. “Until All are Free, None are Free” is an oft-repeated maxim that can be used to highlight the significance of the end of the era of slavery in the United States.

Resolved by the House of Delegates:

That Congress should take immediate action to recognize Juneteenth National Freedom Day as a national memorial day to honor human rights, freedom and independence for all peoples; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House forward a copy of this resolution to the West Virginia Delegation in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.