Juneteenth Could Soon Become a State Holiday in Alabama

[The Intergalactic Koala]

The Alabama Senate Committee on County and Municipal Government Tuesday unanimously approved a bill that would make Juneteenth a state holiday.


The bill will now move to the Senate for a full vote.


Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Montgomery, praised Rep. Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, for bringing forward HB165 and for calling her this week to discuss the bill’s importance.


Juneteenth, or June 19, commemorates the day upon which Black slaves learned of their emancipation in 1865.



Former President Joe Biden signed a bill in 2021 recognizing the day as a federal holiday.



And Gov. Kay Ivey has declared it a state holiday each year since.



Democratic lawmakers have attempted to pass similar bills in the Alabama legislature but have been unsuccessful.



Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, told Rehm on Tuesday that she wanted to applaud him for representing “all of his constituents” despite questioning from House Democrats on why Rehm’s bill has gotten further than previous iterations.



“This is history because by doing this it also preserves history as it is,” Coleman-Madison said.



“Many of us do not celebrate the Fourth of July because we were not free on that day.”

Juneteenth could soon become a state holiday after advancing in Alabama Senate

“This is history because by doing this it also preserves history as it is,” said state Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison.

www.al.com

Koalabama stay winning.

 

[videogamestashbox.com]

As a "history buff" and Alabama bruh ....this is dumb in that Juneteenth has little to nothing to do with Alabama.
It's ridiculous enough that it's a federal holiday instead of 13th amendment ratification(December 6, 1865)

The dates/events that make the most sense are...

• (December 6, 1865) -13th amendment ratification
• (April 3, 1865) - African American Soldiers Capture the capital of the Confederate States of America

The events of Galveston Texas June 19th 1865 are absolutely perfect for a Texas state holiday, but is nonsensical as a federal or state(other than Texas) holiday. On the Federal level they should pass a bill changing the date and name to reflect one of the two bullet points above.

 

[Chrishaune]

Mississippi doesn't want to recognize it so once again something we have over them. I'm sure there's some other states that don't want to celebrate it either.