New York City Declares Juneteenth an Official Holiday
添加时间：2020-07-07 00:06:34 浏览：2917
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that Juneteenth — the 19 June date which marks the end of US slavery — will become an official holiday.
It comes as millions of Americans plan to commemorate, with marches and personal observances, the 1865 date when the last US slaves were freed.
Several states already observe the day as an official holiday and there is a push to declare it a national holiday.
The date's significance has grown this year amid Black Lives Matter protests.
Mayor de Blasio said in a press conference on Friday that the date would be marked as an official city holiday beginning in 2021, and will also be a public school holiday.
"We'll work with all the unions to work through the plan, give this day the importance and recognition it deserves," Mr de Blasio said. "Every city worker, every student will have the opportunity to reflect the meaning of our history and the truth."
Earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an order making Juneteenth — also known as Emancipation Day and Freedom Day — a paid holiday for state workers.
Mr Cuomo said he would introduce legislation to make the day a holiday for all New Yorkers by 2021.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam also promised to make Juneteenth a holiday by 2021 in the former capitol of the Confederacy which rebelled against the US during the Civil War for the legal right to enslave black people.
In Pennsylvania, Gov Tom Wolf has also signed an order making Juneteenth a holiday for state workers.
Texas was the first US state to declare Juneteenth a holiday in 1980. Now all but four US states observe or recognise the date in some form.
This year, the date has become particularly prominent in the public consciousness amid a wave of protests over racial inequality following the deaths of several unarmed African Americans. Juneteenth rallies are planned in Washington DC and across the country.
六月节又称六月独立日、自由日或解放日，是美国德克萨斯州的一个节日，为了纪念美国德克萨斯州在1865年6月19日宣布废除奴隶制，更一般地，是为了纪念美国南部黑人奴隶的解放。