New York City Mayor Eric Adams released the following statement on Monday, April 11, after officially designating Juneteenth a paid city holiday for the first time in New York City history.

 

The mayor, who announced he had contracted COVID-19 on Sunday, April 10, said, “As the second Black mayor of New York City, I know that I stand on the shoulders of countless heroes and sheroes who put their lives on the line to secure a more perfect union. Now is the time for me to do a small part and recognize one of our nation’s greatest wrongs.”

 

Adams continued, “Juneteenth is a time for reflection, assessment, and self-improvement. People across the country of all races, nationalities, and religions unite on this day to truthfully acknowledge the stain of slavery and celebrate the countless contributions of Black Americans. It’s time for our city to finally do what’s right and officially designate Juneteenth as a city holiday. This decision is long overdue, which is why it will immediately take effect this year.”

The mayor concluded, “Holding a mirror to our nation’s past atrocities is never easy, but it is necessary.”

 

As reported, on Juneteenth 2020, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, announced that Juneteenth would become an official City and school holiday. The mayor also announced additional steps the City was taking to address disparities and structural racism that he said had been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the creation of a new commission to understand the effects of structural and institutional racism in New York City.

 

The Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission (RRC) was established to promote social learning, collective introspection, and policy action. In addition, the Commission was launched to create a historical record of racial discrimination, with an emphasis on housing, criminal justice, environmental racism and public health disparity.

 

“New York City is the safest big city in America with crime at all-time lows, yet communities of color bear the brunt of crime and incarceration,” said De Blasio at the time. “Racism has been a pervasive and consequential force throughout the City’s history and we cannot go back to the status quo. We must use the past to inform and inspire the present, to promote the dignity and well-being of all New Yorkers, and their full inclusion in the life of our City.”

 

Juneteenth, which falls on June 19^th, marks the anniversary of the day federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to announce that all enslaved people were free. Coming two and half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it is recognized as the effective end of slavery in the United States. It is widely considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth was officially designated as a federal holiday by President Joe Biden.

 

Then Brooklyn Borough President, Adams, spoke at one Unity and Solidarity food and mask distribution event and press conference, held outside the District 12 office of then City Councilman Andy King, on East Gun Hill Road in the Bronx on Jun. 9, 2020. The event was also attended by Local 32 BJ union president, Kyle Bragg, among others.

 

Adams questioned the reason behind the seemingly, sudden White allegiance with the Black cause following the killing of George Floyd, given Black people had been talking about the same injustices for centuries. He referenced various, high-profile cases of such injustice, including the case of Eric Garner who was killed in 2014, Eleanor Bumpurs who was killed in 1984, and 10-year-old Clifford Glover who was killed in 1973. All were killed by police officers with impunity.

 

In his remarks, Adams warned against the gentrification of the Black Lives Matter movement, seemingly in reference to White, middle-class rioters who, among others, had been captured on video vandalizing businesses during the course of largely peaceful demonstrations. “We know what we need, and we don’t need other folks to come in to define it,” Adams said. “’Cause folks can come in and destroy our community, then they can shave, they can cut their hair, put on a suit, and then go and run their dad’s company somewhere while we’re still here.” He added, “Let’s be clear; you can march with us, behind us, but not in front of us”.