Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is up for reelection, and just like that, he’s suddenly warming up to the idea of federal recognition of Juneteenth as a holiday—or at least, not sabotaging it. ”While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no appetite in Congress to further discuss the matter,” he said in a statement the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obtained on Tuesday. “Therefore, I do not intend to object.”
Legislation sponsored by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Republican Sen. John Cornyn to make Juneteenth a federal holiday has 60 co-sponsors, including 18 Republicans, according to HuffPost. Cornyn told the news site early Tuesday that he expected a request for unanimous consent on the Juneteenth holiday bill would likely come before lawmakers this week; by the day’s end, the Senate passed the bill via unanimous consent, sending it to the House.
June 19 is remembered as the day many slaves learned they were free in 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation legally freed them on Jan. 1, 1863. It coincides with when Union Gen. Gordon Granger announced the news in Galveston, Texas, two months after the end of the Civil War. It is, however, doubtful that Johnson—the man who said the Capitol insurgence on Jan. 6 would’ve bothered him more if the rioters had been Black Lives Matter protesters—is much concerned with the historical significance of the holiday.
Johnson, the congressman who dabbles in white supremacy, said earlier in his statement his problem isn’t with celebrating the Emancipation. “Resolutions recognizing the significance of, and celebrating, Juneteenth have unanimously passed with my support in Congress every year I’ve been a U.S. Senator,” Johnson said. “Last year, a bill was introduced to celebrate Juneteenth by providing an additional paid holiday for 2 million federal employees at a cost of $600 million per year. They attempted to pass the bill without debate or amendment process. Although I strongly support celebrating Emancipation, I objected to the cost and lack of debate.”
Black legislators have been pushing for Juneteenth to be recognized as a holiday for years. Rep. Val Demings, who's running for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat, underlined her support of the bill on Tuesday with video of her speaking before her peers. “We are still a work in progress,” she said. “We the people in order to form a more perfect union we are a work in progress. Let us celebrate Juneteenth as we should, but celebrating freedom must be more than just a special day. It must be a celebration of who as a nation we say we are.”
Demings criticized former President Donald Trump for scheduling a campaign rally last Juneteenth in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where white supremacists burned and terrorized the wealthiest Black community in the country in 1921. “Tulsa was the site of the worst racist violence in American history. The president’s speech there on Juneteenth is a message to every Black American: more of the same,” Demings tweeted before the president ultimately rescheduled the rally. Vice President Kamala Harris, then a senator, tweeted at the time: “This isn't just a wink to white supremacists -- he's throwing them a welcome home party."
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