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4 <br /> WHEREAS, by 1900, Juneteenth had unofficially become Texas Emancipation Day and was <br /> sponsored by black churches and civic organizations; and <br /> WHEREAS, with the migration of African Americans from Texas to the West Coast, <br /> especially during World War II, Juneteenth grew in the emerging black communities of Los <br /> Angeles, San Diego, and Oakland in California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington; <br /> and <br /> WHEREAS, activists in the 1980s began to advocate for wider recognition of the Juneteenth <br /> Holiday; and <br /> WHEREAS, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday; and <br /> WHEREAS, by June 2020, 47 states and the District of Columbia had established either full <br /> or partial recognition of the holiday—only Hawaii, North Dakota, and South Dakota have not; <br /> and <br /> WHEREAS, Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of <br /> slavery in the United States; and <br /> WHEREAS, Juneteenth has been declared a paid holiday by the governing bodies of Orange <br /> County, Town of Chapel Hill, the Town of Carrboro, the Town of Hillsborough, the Orange <br /> County Schools District and the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools District; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was passed <br /> by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on <br /> December 6, 1865, and proclaimed on December 18, 1865, abolished slavery and <br /> involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime; and <br /> WHEREAS, we recognize that while the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th <br /> amendment may have officially ended the legal practice of enslaving human beings in the <br /> United States of America, one hundred and fifty six years later, there is still progress which <br /> must be made to dismantle the insidious systems and practices which continue to harm Black <br /> people and deny them access to the rights and resources to which they are entitled; <br /> NOW THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED, that we, the Orange County Board of <br /> Commissioners, honor the perseverance and hope that inspired African Americans to <br /> celebrate freedom, to look for lost relatives, and to thrive in a hostile and white supremacist <br /> environment, and recognize Juneteenth as an important date in American history. <br /> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we honor the legacy of Juneteenth by building a more <br /> equitable future for our children, our children's children, and their children and we will <br /> continue to advocate and work to that end. <br /> This the 6th day of June, 2023. <br /> Jamezetta Bedford, Chair <br /> Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />