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Honoring and recognizing the national holiday Juneteenth 2025 as an annual celebration of Black Liberation in the City of Saint Paul.
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WHEREAS Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, or Juneteenth Independence Day, commemorates the emancipation of American descendants of chattel slavery in the United States; and
WHEREAS the news that slavery had officially ended and that the enslaved were free throughout the land now known as the United States was neither announced nor enforced in the western former Confederate states such as Mississippi, Louisiana, and in particular Texas until two and a half years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation due to a low presence of the Union Army in those areas; and
WHEREAS on June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, historically known to be where the remaining American descendants of chattel slavery were and announced the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of all enslaved people, over two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; and
WHEREAS Union General William T. Sherman’s planned to give American descendants of chattel slavery “forty acres and a mule” was among the first and most significant promises made - and broken - to African Americans. As the Union army gradually took over Confederate territory, there was a question as to what freedom really meant for the emancipated. Without property, money, or an education, most did not have a clear or immediate path toward economic independence; and
WHEREAS after the abolishment of slavery, American descendants of chattel slavery experienced extreme disparities through Jim Crow laws, sharecropping, lynching, redlining, segregation, mass incarceration, forced segregation, mass atrocities in Tulsa and Rosewood, and many other forms of systemic oppression that impact Black Americans today; and
WHEREAS since 2021, the United States Congress and President Joe Biden took formal action to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, and in Saint Paul, Mayor Melvin Carter established Juneteenth as an official city holiday; and
WHEREAS in Saint Paul, systemic discrimination was perpetrated through redlining and racial covenants, access to housing, environmental injustice and the removal of Saint Paul’s Rondo neighborhood - the center of Saint Paul’s African American business, residential, spiritual and cultural life - for the construction of Interstate 94; and
WHEREAS In 2023, the City of Saint Paul established the Saint Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission, as envisioned, will make significant progress toward understanding and strategically outlining the damage caused by public and private systemic racism in the City of Saint Paul, and will issue a report for consideration by the city, which will focus on steps for repair; and
WHEREAS Juneteenth has been celebrated by Black People since the late 19th century and has become a significant holiday promoting African American culture, history, and continued resilience despite these systems; and
WHEREAS honoring and recognizing Juneteenth provides an opportunity for all residents of Saint Paul to learn about and reflect on the history and ongoing struggles for racial equity and justice in the United States for Black people; and
WHEREAS the recognition of Juneteenth as a city holiday aligns with Saint Paul's dedication to equity, inclusion, and the celebration of the contributions of Black People to our city's social, cultural, and economic fabric; and
WHEREAS we uplift the many celebrations and educational spaces that will happen across the City of Saint Paul hosted by community organizations and Black community leaders to commemorate Juneteenth, that fosters greater awareness and understanding of this pivotal day in American history; and
WHEREAS we uplift Nexus Community Partners Organization and the Open Road fund, where they aim to redistribute resources to present-day descendants of the transatlantic slave trade to build intergenerational Black wealth within our communities. The organization believes that “paths lead to our destiny, and when faced with barriers, we call upon our ancestors to guide us on the open road to liberation”.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Saint Paul encourages all residents to participate in Juneteenth activities, to educate themselves on the historical significance of Juneteenth, and to work towards a more equitable and just society.