Presidential Document2022-13546
Juneteenth Day of Observance, 2022
Primary source
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Published
June 23, 2022
Signed
June 17, 2022
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 120 (Thursday, June 23, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 120 (Thursday, June 23, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 37437-37438]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13546]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 120 / Thursday, June 23, 2022 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 37437]]
Proclamation 10418 of June 17, 2022
Juneteenth Day of Observance, 2022
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
After the Union Army captured New Orleans in 1862,
slave owners in Confederate states migrated to Texas
with more than 150,000 enslaved Black persons. For 3
years, even after President Abraham Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved Black Americans in
Texas remained in brutal bondage, immorally and
illegally deprived of their freedom and basic dignity.
On June 19, 1865--over 2 years after President Lincoln
declared all enslaved persons free--Major General
Gordon Granger and Union Army troops marched to
Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation
Proclamation and free the last enslaved Black Americans
in Texas.
Those who were freed from bondage celebrated their
long-overdue emancipation on June 19. Today, our Nation
commemorates Juneteenth: a chance to celebrate human
freedom, reflect on the grievous and ongoing legacy of
slavery, and rededicate ourselves to rooting out the
systemic racism that continues to plague our society as
we strive to deliver the full promise of America to
every American.
This Juneteenth, we are freshly reminded that the
poisonous ideology of racism has not yet been
defeated--it only hides. Our Nation continues to mourn
the 10 lives senselessly taken in Buffalo, New York,
and grieve for the families who have lost a piece of
their soul. As we confront the awful reality of yet
another gunman massacring innocent people in the name
of hatred, racism, and fear, we must meet this moment
with renewed resolve. We must stand together against
white supremacy and show that bigotry and hate have no
safe harbor in America.
Juneteenth is a day to reflect on both bondage and
freedom--a day of both pain and purpose. It is, in
equal measure, a remembrance of both the long, hard
night of slavery and subjugation, as well as a
celebration of the promise of a brighter morning to
come. On Juneteenth, we remember our extraordinary
capacity to heal, to hope, and to emerge from our worst
moments as a stronger, freer, and more just Nation. It
is also a day to celebrate the power and resilience of
Black Americans, who have endured generations of
oppression in the ongoing journey toward equal justice,
equal dignity, equal rights, and equal opportunity in
America.
Last year, I was proud to sign bipartisan legislation
establishing Juneteenth as our newest Federal holiday,
so that all Americans can feel the power of this day,
learn from our history, celebrate our progress, and
recognize and engage in the work that continues. Great
nations do not ignore their most painful moments--they
face them. We grow stronger as a country when we
honestly confront our past injustices, including the
profound suffering and injustice wrought by slavery and
generations of segregation and discrimination against
Black Americans. To heal, we must remember. We must
never rest until the promise of our Nation is made real
for all Americans.
The emancipation of enslaved Black Americans was not
the end of our Nation's work to deliver on the promise
of equality--it was only the beginning. On Juneteenth,
we recommit to our shared work to ensure racial
justice, equity, and equality in America. We
commemorate the centuries of struggle and progress led
by abolitionists, educators, civil rights advocates,
[[Page 37438]]
lawyers, activists, trade unionists, religious leaders,
public officials, and everyday Americans who have
brought our Nation closer to fulfilling its promise.
As my good friend, the late Congressman Elijah
Cummings, said, ``Our children are the living
messengers we send to a future we will never see.''
Together as a Nation, let us continue our work together
to build a country we are all proud to pass along to
our children--one where the foundational promises and
ideals of America ring true for every child and every
family.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 19, 2022,
as Juneteenth Day of Observance. I call upon the people
of the United States to acknowledge and condemn the
history of slavery in our Nation and recognize how the
impact of America's original sin remains. I call on
every American to celebrate the emancipation of all
Black Americans and commit together to eradicate
systemic racism and inequity that can never be
tolerated and must always be fought against.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
sixth.
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(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2022-13546
Filed 6-22-22; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 23, 2022.
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