Denver's Juneteenth Organizers Push For National Holiday
DENVER (CBS4) - The organizers of Denver Juneteenth's celebrations are among those pushing to make the day a national holiday. Juneteenth honors the end of slavery.
It was June 19, 1865 when a Union general told the slaves in Texas they were free. That was two and a half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Union soldiers were not able to enforce the order until the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865.
The Denver organizers have a petition on change.org and on their page they call Juneteenth the celebration of the day Black people learned of their freedom.
They argue making it a national holiday would celebrate how culture has bloomed from the most brutal circumstances.
You can find out more about their petition here.
Because of this year's coronavirus pandemic, Juneteenth has gone virtual. You can find out more about it here.