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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: June 3, 2025 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 4-a <br /> SUBJECT: Juneteenth Freedom Day Proclamation <br /> DEPARTMENT: Office of Civil Rights and Civic <br /> Life <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Proclamation Paul Slack, (919) 245-2317 <br /> PURPOSE: To approve a proclamation designating June 19, 2025 as Juneteenth Freedom Day <br /> in Orange County. <br /> BACKGROUND: On June 19, 1865 — more than two (2) years after the signing of the <br /> Emancipation Proclamation — U.S. Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, <br /> to inform the last enslaved African Americans that they were free. This day, now known as <br /> Juneteenth, marked a powerful moment of delayed liberation and became a defining milestone in <br /> the struggle for Black freedom. The first Juneteenth celebration was held in Texas in 1866, where <br /> communities gathered for prayer, food, music, and dance. As Black families migrated from Texas <br /> to other parts of the country, they carried Juneteenth's cultural and historical traditions with them. <br /> In 2007, North Carolina approved legislation that allowed Juneteenth National Freedom Day to <br /> become an official state holiday once federally recognized. In 2020, Orange County and the <br /> Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough affirmed Juneteenth as a local holiday. Today, <br /> Juneteenth is celebrated as a federal holiday across all 50 states, recognized as a time of both <br /> jubilation and reflection. <br /> Juneteenth not only honors freedom — it invites us to reckon with the ongoing legacy of slavery <br /> and the long, unfinished journey toward justice. Historian Ira Berlin, in The Long Emancipation: <br /> The Demise of Slavery in the United States, argues that emancipation was not a singular event, <br /> but "a near century process" driven by the resistance, resilience, and determination of Black <br /> Americans. Freedom was not granted — it was fought for. Through centuries of struggle, Black <br /> Americans have expanded the meaning of citizenship and reshaped the promise of American <br /> democracy, redefining who is included in the phrase "We the People." <br /> This year, Orange County will host a Juneteenth celebration on June 13, 2025. <br /> FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with consideration of the <br /> proclamation. <br />