WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th June, 2020) Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said that he will introduce legislation establishing June 19 as a state holiday to elevate the commemoration of ending slavery in the United States.
The announcement comes after two weeks of nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality that ignited in late May with the death of African American man George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
"Today, I am announcing that I will propose legislation to make Juneteenth paid state holiday," Northam said on Tuesday. "It matters because it says to black communities 'This is not just your history, this is everyone's shared history.'"
Northam said the elevated commemoration in Virginia, which hosted the Confederate capital in Richmond, will begin this Friday with a paid day off for executive branch state employees.
The American Civil War was fought on the issue of slavery between the Union and Confederate forces from 1861 to 1865. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the American Civil war ended and the slaves had been set free.
