Dear Colleagues,
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation was made real on the last piece of Confederate soil, and the last people enslaved in this nation set free.
It’s a day of reflection and, in the times we’re living in, a day of reckoning.
Earlier today, I announced Juneteenth will become an official City and school holiday beginning next year. We’re beginning talks with our public sector unions to make it a reality.
For hundreds of thousands Black City workers and students, the holiday will be a recognition and celebration of the fullness of American history—of THEIR history.
And for the city as a whole, it will be a day to recommit ourselves to the work of a fair and equal society, of confronting and dismantling the legacy of racism that pervades our city.
Slavery existed in New York City.
Redlining existed in New York City.
Structural racism still exists in New York City.
We won’t sweep history under the rug. We won’t ignore how we got here. Today I joined First Lady Chirlane McCray and our Task Force for Racial Inclusion and Equity to announce something that will help us reckon with the legacy of racism. New York City will be the first city in the nation to convene a Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission that will help us unearth a shared history, no matter how painful, and move our whole city forward.
We’ll build something better.
As we celebrate this Juneteenth, we recognize this profound moment of change and potential. And we strive for the justice every New Yorker deserves.
Your Mayor,
Bill de Blasio
