Governor Bill Lee signed a slew of legislation into law last week, including SB0269/HB0317, which makes June 19, or “Juneteenth,” a statewide paid holiday.
The law was sponsored by State Representative William Lamberth (R-Portland) and State Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and passed through the General Assembly in mid-April.
Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates the freeing of slaves in the southern United States, which was officially declared on June 19, 1865, and represents the day the Emancipation Proclamation was enforced by the Union Army.
The newest American holiday was already declared at a federal level, but in Tennessee, it was only a “day of observance” before the new law’s passage.
“On this 155th Anniversary of #Juneteenth, we recognize the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865. I signed a Juneteenth proclamation to honor this day as it represents the promise of a free and just society that is guaranteed for every Tennessean,” Lee said upon announcing the “day of observance” in 2020.
On this 155th Anniversary of #Juneteenth, we recognize the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865. I signed a Juneteenth proclamation to honor this day as it represents the promise of a free and just society that is guaranteed for every Tennessean. pic.twitter.com/5AHRpkVr8y
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) June 19, 2020
“Tomorrow is a reminder that freedom has not always been extended to every life in America. This Juneteenth, may we strive to more fully realize the ideals of our nation & ensure that a free & just society is guaranteed for every Tennessean,” he said last year, posting the same proclamation.
Tomorrow is a reminder that freedom has not always been extended to every life in America. This Juneteenth, may we strive to more fully realize the ideals of our nation & ensure that a free & just society is guaranteed for every Tennessean. pic.twitter.com/D5rmjvQh5t
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) June 18, 2022
Lee aligns himself with President Joe Biden in making the holiday official.
Biden himself did the same at a federal level in 2021.
“You know, today, we consecrate Juneteenth for what it ought to be, what it must be: a national holiday,” Biden said at the time. “As the Vice President noted, a holiday that will join the others of our national celebrations: our independence, our laborers who built this nation, our servicemen and women who served and died in its defense. And the first new national holiday since the creation of Martin Luther King Holiday nearly four decades ago.”
At the time, Biden said that commemorating the holiday was just the beginning of his administration’s work to stave off perceived inequalities.
He said:
That’s why we’ve launched an aggressive effort to combat racial discrimination in housing — finally address the cruel fact that a home owned, to this day, by a Black American family is usually appraised at a lower rate for a similar home owned by a white family in a similar area.
That’s why we committed to increasing Black homeownership, one of the biggest drivers of generational wealth.
That’s why we’re making it possible for more Black entrepreneurs to access — to access capital, because their ideas are as good; they lack the capital to get their fair — and get their fair share of federal contracts so they can begin to build wealth.
That’s why we’re working to give each and every child, three and four years of age, not daycare, but school — in a school.
That’s why — that’s why we’re unlocking the incredibly creative and innovation — innovation of the history — of our Historical Black Colleges and Universities, providing them with the resources to invest in research centers and laboratories to help HBCU graduates prepare and compete for good-paying jobs in the industries of the future.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee. Background Photo “Tennessee State Capitol” by Ken Lund. CC BY-SA 2.0.
I am always amazed at how “conservatives” operate, especially in regard to how the left plays their hand. The left NEVER panders to the right. They might devour one another in the name of moving further into darkness and chaos, but never pandering to the right. They care nothing for appeasement. Those in power that call themselves conservatives are always so quick to pander or appease. Even Winston Churchill wisely stated that “an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.” But ultimately, I would argue that they aren’t appeasers at all, and can no longer disguise themselves as the good guys that try to reach across the aisle, and fear being called bad names by the media,. They are what they are: accomplices of the evil leftists agenda.
Lee is on a roll with new red flag laws and now Juneteenth. Next Tennessee state holiday: kwanzaa.
Needed is legislation to cap the number of state holidays. They are not without cost, they are not without service delivery shut down. A hard cap needs to be legislated now. What would happen then is holidays would either be combined or one would be eliminated to keep holidays under the cap. Lincoln’s Day and Washington’s birthday set the precedent, it became President’s Day. Perhaps Juneteenth could be combined with MLK Day. Memorial Day has seemed to have lost it’s significance today. Rather than a day of somber remembrance it is now a “kick off” to summer grilling.
Slavery wasn’t ended until the enactment of the 13th and 14th Amendments which overturned the 1857 Dred Scott SCOTUS decision.
A clause of the 14th Amendment, “the equal protection of the laws “, is regularly violated when the government EXEMPTS THEMSELVES from laws, like gun control, they pass for us.
“Tyranny may be defined as what is legal for the government being illegal for the citizenry.” —Thomas Jefferson
So let’s enforce the law and end that aspect of slavery!
I’d like to know who voted for this waste of taxpayer dollars. I ll be sure to donate to their opponent in their next election. Usually Bills that cost taxpayers dollars are not so easily passed. We taxpayers are now on the hook to pay the salaries for every State & Local government employee to NOT WORK another day. Are they that unimportant to the grand scheme of running our government?
Its just another virtue signal to make himself look great & a middle finger to the taxpayers, which are just trying to keep their head above water right now.
SO SICK OF THE VIRTUE SIGNALING. Let the ones who voted for this HOLIDAY, pay the Bill.
SO incredibly stupid. Pandering Bill has been a disgrace but we knew we were getting a RINO/gopE when we voted for him. He was the lesser of the 2 RINOs left standing. All the other REAL Conservative candidates had been run out of the race by that time. That being said, he’s been MUCH worse than I feared
I’m sure Justin Jones will approve.
Do State workers really need another paid day off?
The next program from this RINO will be repatriation for people of color.
Gov. Lee has been very disappointing lately…
This is woke a$$ BS. Gov. Lee putting this in place, calling for a special session to determine how to reduce gun ownership rights, and next will be “indigenous people’s day”.
As for Juneteenth:
“On this 155th Anniversary of #Juneteenth, we recognize the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865…”
This is actually NOT TRUE. Slavery still exists today in this country. To make ourselves feel better in has a new name: human smuggling. Our porous borders are causing this to be a growing event. With the ending of Title 42 tomorrow we can expect a massive increase in the cartel SLAVE TRADE.
Perhaps our next holiday should be Once’ de Mayo to commemorate the invasion of the United States.