YPSILANTI, MI -- Ypsilanti has made Juneteenth an official city holiday.
The Ypsilanti City Council approved a resolution recently to recognize the holiday each year on June 19.
The date commemorates June 19, 1865, when a group of Black Americans in Texas finally learned about the Emancipation Proclamation that had set them free earlier in the Civil War.
On that date, Union Army General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas where he read General Order #3, stating that all slaves were free, and that former masters and slaves were absolutely equal in personal and property rights, according to the resolution.
City officials pointed out that Ypsilanti has a record of fighting bigotry, slavery and racism. Even prior to the Civil War, the city was part of the Underground Railroad that helped slaves find a way to freedom. The city sent soldiers, Black and white, to fight and die for the Union in the Civil War to free the slaves. The city also has a history of passing ordinances to prohibit discrimination, officials said.
Ypsilanti City Mayor Lois Richardson proposed the resolution after virtually attending the National League of Cities and learning that other cities were creating a Juneteenth holiday, she said.
“I think this is something that is long overdue not just here in the city of Ypsilanti, and the state of Michigan, but it is something that is long overdue in this country,” Richardson said. “And I believe that as (cities) begin(s) to adopt and declare June 19 as a holiday, the state, the country… will eventually get to that place where it will be a national holiday.”
Currently, the United States does not recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. Michigan recognizes Juneteenth as a day of celebration rather than a holiday.
“I think a lot of these things are symbolic and I appreciate them, but I just want it to translate to something more material over time,” said Council Member Anthony Morgan
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The Link LonkApril 09, 2021 at 12:56AM
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Ypsilanti declares Juneteenth a city holiday - mlive.com
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