OPINION: Alaska should establish Juneteenth as a state holiday

Juneteenth is a federal and municipal holiday commemorating June 19, 1865, when the last group of slaves heard that the Union had prevailed and ended slavery. The state of Alaska should adopt Juneteenth as a state holiday, since it is a powerful symbol of our country becoming the more perfect union envisioned in our founding documents.

As much as slavery and racism shaped early American history, so too the struggle for freedom and abolition defined our country’s ideals and potential. Many of the United States’ founders recognized the evils of slavery and institutional racism, even if they had been born into slaveholding families themselves. From the signing of the Constitution in 1787 to the Civil War, the fight for abolition shaped presidential campaigns and drove debate around admitting new states to the union. Generations of activists fought to dismantle slavery, and their efforts were so compelling that by 1860 Abraham Lincoln and his Republican Party were defined by their commitment to abolition of slavery.

Slave owners and their political supporters in southern states did everything they could to maintain a system of apartheid, even waging treasonous insurrection against the United States. But Lincoln, the Union Army, and countless individuals patriots prevailed in the Civil War.

At that time, news often traveled slowly. While Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, many southerners and Americans in Western states didn’t hear about the war’s end for months. On June 19, the last major group of slaves (in Galveston, Texas) finally did hear the good news. Ever since that day, many Americans have celebrated Juneteenth. Texas was the first state to make it a state holiday, and many others followed. President Joe Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021, and the Anchorage Assembly just adopted it as a municipal holiday.

The Alaska Legislature has a storied history as a leader in the fight for equality. Shortly after convening for the first session 110 years ago this month, the territorial Legislature recognized women’s right to vote. Following the activism of Elizabeth Peratrovich and many others, the Alaska Legislature was the first in America to pass an anti-discrimination statute. Alaska’s 1945 law predated the federal Civil Rights Act by nearly two decades.

Given our state’s history and the importance of Juneteenth in striving to meet our national ideals, the Legislature and governor should work together to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday.

Alaska State Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson has introduced SB 22 to make Juneteenth a state holiday.

Kevin D. McGee serves as president of the NAACP’s Anchorage chapter.

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