Juneteenth

Two days ago, nobody really thought this would happen. Also, 7 other things worth your time.

At 3:30 pm Eastern today, President Biden is expected to sign a bill making June 19, Juneteenth National Independence Day, the 12th federal holiday.

I linked to a story about the surprise Senate passage of the bill this week in the “7 other things” section the other day. But I didn’t have time to do much more then, and I’d like to correct that now.

First, the background. In case you’re like me and grew up in the North, where Juneteenth was hardly mentioned until recent years, the day commemorates the arrival of Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, at the end of the Civil War.

Only then did people there learn that President Lincoln (who was assassinated two months earlier) had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

Yes, you read right: that’s a two-year gap.

A striking thing about Granger’s official message, to me anyway, is that it wasn’t exactly heartfelt or congratulatory:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance w…