On this edition of Voice of the Public, a conversation with Dr. Bobbie Green NAACP of Doña Ana County. She talks with Fred Martino about Juneteeth, progress in the United States, and the work that still lies ahead.
Americans are rejoicing after President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. But some say that while they appreciate the recognition at a time of racial reckoning in America, more is needed to change policies that disadvantage too many. The Juneteenth holiday commemorates the events of June 19, 1865. That’s when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — some 2 1/2 years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves in Southern states.