JUDY WOODRUFF: As of tomorrow,
Juneteenth, the day marking the
end of slavery, is a federal

holiday.

Juneteenth is observed on the 19th of the
month, but, because it lands on a Saturday

this year, most federal employees will be
able to celebrate this Friday.

For millions, the commemoration
is long overdue, and far more
significant than another day

off.

Amna Nawaz explains.

AMNA NAWAZ: Judy, Juneteenth is
either observed or an official
state holiday in 49 states

and the District of Columbia.

The effort to make it a national
holiday goes back decades.

But, today, President Biden
signed a law making it the first
new federal holiday since 1983.

Now, Juneteenth commemorates
what took place on June 19,
1865, when union soldiers arrived

in Galveston, Texas, and announced to
enslaved Black people that they were free.

That came 2.5 years after the
Emancipation Proclamation and
two months after the Confederacy

surrendered.

We explore the significance of this moment
with Khalil Gibran Muhammad.

He's a professor of history, race, and
public policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

He's also the former director
of the Schomburg Center for
Research in Black culture.

Professor Muhammad,
welcome to the "NewsHour."

Thanks for being with us.

So, Juneteenth is now added to the list of
federal holidays that includes things like

New Year's Day and Martin Luther King Day
and Memorial Day, Independence Day.

What's the significance of
this day joining this list?

KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD, Harvard
Kennedy School: Well, the
significance is that, for the first

time in American history,
America's original sin -- that
is, slavery -- will be center

and a commemorative moment annually
that will bring parents and
children, teachers and students

and everyday Americans and
newcomers alike together, with
the hope and possibility that

they will reflect on the meaning
of that history, so that we
might reconcile with our present.

AMNA NAWAZ: Why do you think
that's important, especially at
this point in American history?

KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD: Well,
in our political climate, where
conversations about the fragility

of our democracy, protests
around systemic racism, an
ongoing climate crisis that will

require all of us to come together across
partisan lines, we are facing some serious

existential in this country, of which race
and racism in many ways animate so much of

the problem.

And so to have a holiday that
could become a way of reminding
ourselves of the obligations

that we owe each other,
this is a big deal.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about education?

I mean, I know you say the
holiday can remind all of us of
a history a lot of people don't

learn about in their formal education.

Juneteenth is often not taught
in our formal school systems.

You learn about sort of
exceptional stories from slavery.

We all know about Harriet
Tubman and Frederick Douglass.

Do you think this becoming a
federal holiday could change that?

KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD: Well, I
think there's a lot of momentum
and possibility and movement

in that direction.

Indeed, some of the people who've
been organizing for Juneteenth
as a national holiday have

centered the holiday around
education, wanting to see the
recognition of the day itself as

part of the curriculum
in American schools.

And so perhaps this is the tip
of an iceberg of a more capacious
understanding of the American

past.

But I think it's also an
important reminder that, in this
political moment, states are

passing bills to keep histories
like Juneteenth and what
they mean out of schools.

And so it's not clear how much this will
move forward in curriculum anytime soon.

AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned
this political moment.

We should point out this had overwhelming
bipartisan support, which is not something

we get to say often in Washington.

Did that surprise you?

KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD: Yes.

Yes, it did, admittedly.

But, upon further reflection,
I think in a Congress that
is debating protecting voting

rights for all Americans,
making it easier to vote and
not harder at the federal level,

questions about how to solve for
police violence against unarmed
people and other aggressions

directed towards people, this is easier
than those -- than that legislation.

And so I do think we have to keep in mind
that politics are still at play.

AMNA NAWAZ: You also mentioned,
of course, this moment in
American national conversations,

when we are talking much
more about racism in American
history and the systemic racism

that persists today.

Do you think we would be at this
moment today had we not had the
last year of not just national

protests, but global protests,
in response to the murder of
George Floyd in Minneapolis?

KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD: In my opinion, no.

In my opinion, when millions of Americans
numbering anywhere from 15 to 26 million,

according to The New York
Times, participated in racial
justice protests a year ago, the

conversation about the significance
of Juneteenth, the anniversary
of the Tulsa massacre, its

centennial just passed, have
all thrown in sharp relief the
urgency of reconciling with

our past in order to make
for a different and more just
and racial, fully egalitarian

future.

And so I don't believe that
this holiday would be where we
are at this moment were it not

for all that activity a year ago.

AMNA NAWAZ: Finally, we noted, of course,
several states have already commemorated,

have been commemorating Juneteenth in some
way.

And, of course, millions of
Black Americans have been
marking the day for generations.

I wonder what you would say to
everyone else in the country,
to white Americans, Latinx

Americans, Asian Americans,
Native Americans, about how
they should mark this day?

KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD: Yes.

Well, this is a country, the United States
of America, that gained its footing in the

world and its wealth and its land on the
backs of the indigenous and the enslaved.

And for anyone who claims
America as their home, whether
it's an old home or an adopted

home, owes a debt to those people.

And, therefore, this
is everyone's holiday.

The very notion of freedom
itself, of freedom delayed, of
freedom aborted, and of freedom

that is fragile is one that we
ought to all remind ourselves
as much as possible is one

that has to be fought for and
to be vigilant guardians of.

AMNA NAWAZ: Professor Khalil
Gibran Muhammad of Harvard
Kennedy School, thank you so much

for being with us tonight.

KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD:
You're very welcome.