LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville will honor Juneteenth as a holiday for all metro government workers starting 2021, Mayor Greg Fischer announced.
Fischer signed an executive order declaring it a holiday early Friday, saying the day is an important moment in U.S. history that "every American should commemorate."
Kentucky has recognized Juneteenth as a holiday since 2005, though it does not mean state workers take the day off nor does it mean most cities celebrate it. Gov. Andy Beshear signed a proclamation to make it an official state holiday Thursday, saying it will need to pass in the next general assembly to take effect.
"I think it is important that we remind everybody of this dark chapter in our history, and that its impact continues to linger, and that we celebrate the dates, at least portions of it, that it ended," Beshear said.
Fischer did note that while Juneteenth marks the day the Emancipation Proclamation reached slaves in the Union, states like Kentucky did not officially end slavery until later.
“In Kentucky, slavery didn’t officially end until ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 18, 1865,” Fischer said. “The heartbreaking truth was that while they were legally free, most former slaves had no wealth, few resources and faced vicious and violent resistance to exercising their Constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The mayor made the announcement during a Facebook panel on Juneteenth with state Sen. Gerald Neal, Louisville Metro Government Chief of Equity Kendall Boyd, civil rights activist Mattie Jones, Executive Director of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage Aukram Burton, and Sydney Tucker, a member of the One Love Louisville Youth Implementation Team.
Midway, a small Kentucky city near Lexington, also declared Juneteenth a holiday earlier this week.
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