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Juneteenth a Federal, not State Holiday; Some Local Offices Recognize Anyway
By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
While state employees in about 30 other states were given the day off Monday, Mississippi state employees went to work as usual, despite Monday being Juneteenth, now a federal holiday.
Mississippi has not recognized June 19 as a state holiday, which would require a bill passed by Legislators and signed by Gov. Tate Reeves.
On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger led Union soldiers to Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the war and the freedom of all enslaved people.
Two years ago, Pres. Joe Biden signed a resolution establishing June 19 as a federal holiday.
Mississippi is one of 17 states that only “observes” Juneteenth, but stops short of making it an official state holiday.
In Oxford, the city attempted to recognize the day as a holiday and turned off parking meters around the Square, as it does for all state holidays. However, city employees did not get the day off because the city and Lafayette County are required to follow the state when it comes to holidays.
The state legally recognizes Confederate Memorial Day as a state holiday; however, state law allows municipalities and counties to essentially trade Confederate Memorial Day, which is on the fourth Monday of April, for Good Friday.
“We take off Good Friday instead of Confederate Memorial Day,” Mayor Robyn Tannehill said.
In the 2023 Legislative session, five proposed House bills and three proposed Senate bills that would have made Juneteenth a legal statutory holiday in Mississippi all died in committee.
Lafayette County Supervisor and Board President Mike Roberts said he almost forgot Juneteenth wasn’t a state holiday and said it’s confusing when there is a federal holiday that is not recognized as a state holiday.
“The state ‘says’ t recognizes it as a holiday but doesn’t give us a day off,” Roberts said. “It wasn’t a county decision, but it is at the state level.”
The Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce closed Monday in observance of Juneteenth as did the Oxford Housing Authority.
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