Juneteenth is now an official holiday in the City of Covington.
City Hall will remain open for business this coming Monday, which is Presidents Day. City Hall will now close on Monday, June 20.
On Tuesday, the Covington City Commission’s voted to switch paid holidays for non-union city employees. City leaders are acknowledging the diversity of the Covington community.
Juneteenth, or June 19, has long been celebrated by African-Americans as “Freedom Day” or “Juneteenth Independence Day.” Juneteenth became recognized as a federal holiday in 2021 by President Joe Biden. Covington joins other Kentucky cities such as Louisville, Lexington and Midway in formally recognizing Juneteenth as an official holiday for local government employees.
“I’m really proud of my City of Covington for passing this, for acknowledging this day,” Robin Williams, longtime resident of Covington, said. “The City is really stepping up and showing others. I applaud Covington because by making this a holiday, others will look to you and eventually it will be everywhere.”
Mayor Pro Tem and City Commissioner Ron Washington proposed the city’s designation of Juneteenth as a citywide holiday late last year.
“It gives credence to an important act in our country’s history,” Washington said. “Recognizing this national holiday, when African Americans were no longer enslaved, is an important step in showing the progress we’ve made toward racial equality and how far we’ve come as a country.”
For now, the order passed by the commission in January applies only to the 62 employees who aren’t members of one of the city’s three unions, since paid time off for most police, fire, public works, and other employees are governed by existing, negotiated contracts.
“It wasn’t taught in school and my parents never talked about it,” she said. “I hated history in high school, I just didn’t care about it.”
Yahya Abdul-Hafeez, who was born and raised in Covington, said the overdue recognition of Juneteenth is a matter of furthering people’s education.
“I think one of the most important reasons for it to be recognized is it’s a reminder of our history – a history that was not taught in schools,” Abdul-Hafeez said. “Most people didn’t find out about Juneteenth until they were in college.”
Both Williams and Abdul-Hafeez said they looked forward to attending another Juneteenth celebration this year and hoped they’ll see even more fanfare and participation throughout the region.
In time, Williams said, commemoration of the historical day warrants a celebration on par with the more widely known Independence Day: “I want a parade just like they do for the Fourth of July. Let’s do it.”
Juneteenth commemorates the the date in 1865 when many enslaved people in Texas first learned they were free from the bonds of slavery. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. However, the abolition of slavery wasn’t enforced in certain places until two years after the Civil War ended. Roughly 180,000 African-American soldiers served in the Union army.
The first celebration of “Juneteenth” occurred in 1866, and Texas in 1979 became the first state to make the day an official holiday.
Texas was a haven for slaveholders because of the limited Union presence in the state and because many Southern slave owners had moved their slaves there. Two months after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered in April 1865, Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger took his troops to Galveston, TX to share the news that the war was over and that enslaved people were now legally free.
