Juneteenth, we now know even though the folks who decided what we needed to learn in school never thought it was something worth teaching us, is an old holiday commemorating the day when news of the emancipation of slaves reached the last place in the U.S. where slaves were still held and emancipation was still unknown and unimplemented: Galveston, Texas. That was on June 19, 1865 – hence “Juneteenth.”
Juneteenth is now a national/federal holiday, celebrated – obviously – on June 19.
Only…
Where The Curmudgeon lives, in New Jersey, Juneteenth was a state holiday even before it became a federal holiday, and for reasons that defy logic, it is celebrated on…
The third Friday of June.
Even when that’s not June 19.
Like this year, when the third Friday of June is June 16.
Today. Not Monday. Today.
Because – could there be any other reason? – the state officials who made it a holiday wanted to create a new three-day weekend for themselves, their friends, and their families. In so doing, they conveyed to their constituents their real regard for the day and its purpose.
Crossing Against the Light: 