Harris Marks Juneteenth at National African-American Museum

Vice President Kamala Harris marked the Juneteenth federal holiday with a visit to the National Museum of African American History & Culture where she spoke with a group of school-aged children.

Monday marks only the second federally recognized Juneteenth holiday – commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

On June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, the last enslaved people in the U.S. were told they were free in Galveston, Texas. Many in the Black community have been celebrating the date for years.

Speaking to the children in the room about the new holiday, Harris said it’s a celebration of the principle of freedom.

“How do we define freedom?” Harris asked. “Is freedom given to us? Are we born with human rights? I would argue it is our God given right to have freedom. It is your birthright to have freedom. And then during slavery, freedom was taken.”

“And so we’re not going to celebrate being given back what God gave us anyway,” she said.

Harris urged the children in the room to think about the meaning of the day in a larger context, and what freedom means to others around the world.

“We should think about it also in terms of current applications, asking, is everyone we know free? Do we know anyone who is not free? Around the world, do all people have freedom?” she asked.

“Let this be a day to celebrate the principle of freedom and to speak about it honestly, and accurately, both through the context of history and its current application,” Harris said.

President Joe Biden signed legislation last year making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

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