IFPTE Applauds Recognition of Juneteenth National Independence Day as Federal Holiday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC – This week, President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, a bill that passed the Senate and the House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) celebrates the enactment of the Juneteenth National Independence Day as a formally recognized U.S. federal holiday. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that African American slaves in Texas were emancipated nearly two and a half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862. The first instance of Juneteenth as a federal holiday will be observed on Friday, June 18, 2021.
IFPTE President Paul Shearon offered the following remarks on the first observance of Juneteenth as a federal holiday:
“Our union marks the first Juneteenth National Independence Day by celebrating the efforts of civil rights activists, community leaders, and working people who have advanced the cause of racial justice and those who continue to confront the grave injustices of the past that shape our present, those who work to dismantle structural racism, and those who move our society forward. Recalling Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s refrain that “No one is free until we are all free,” we are reminded that the Black experience and the struggle for racial justice and equality is core to the American labor movement and our progress as a nation.”
IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer/Legislative Director Matt Biggs added:
“Though long overdue, IFPTE lauds the swift enactment of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. Over the last year, the George Floyd uprising and Black Lives Matter has shown us the power that Americans standing up and marching for racial justice can have, but it also serves as a powerful reminder that we have yet to achieve the goals of the civil rights movement. We take this moment to celebrate the resilience, the achievements, and sacrifices of so many Americans who have marched and continue to march for racial justice.”
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