ST. LOUIS — Juneteenth has long been a celebration in the Black community.
Now, the holiday is gaining more recognition. Leaders in St. Louis and St. Louis County have declared Juneteenth as an official holiday.
Companies and educational institutions have also started to officially recognize the holiday, some giving employees days off.
5 On Your Side's Rene Knott gave a brief explainer on the celebration on Today In St. Louis:
The term dates back to 1865. It was the day two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed that slaves were finally freed in the southern United States. The word on that day was given in Galveston, Texas.
Juneteenth isn’t the end of the story. The slaves were free, but they would also be hit with disappointment a few months later. Under the Special Field Orders No. 15, freed slaves were promised their own 40 acres of land by General William Tecumsheh Sherman.
Lois Conley, the founder of the Griot Museum of Black History in St Louis, said that America never truly lived up to the promise.
It was eventually taken away by President Andrew Johnson. Conley said she believes taking back promise of the land has led to many of the problems we face 155 years later.
One issue is systemic racism that is a huge factor in the Black Lives Matter movement.
