Hogan Lovells to observe Juneteenth as a holiday in the United States
We are making Juneteenth 2020 a firm holiday in the United States as a way of underscoring our commitment to advancing racial justice. This is in addition to the day of reflection we held on 5 June, following the brutal killing of George Floyd.
Juneteenth – 19 June, marks the date when in 1865 General Gordon Granger proclaimed in Galveston that all enslaved persons in Texas were now free. Although President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was almost two and a half years earlier, and the Civil War had largely ended, enforcement of the proclamation had been slow and inconsistent. General Granger’s proclamation was the final act in formally ending slavery in our country.
Over time Juneteenth has become a holiday in many parts of the United States and a day to commemorate that moment. Juneteenth is the right time for us to make a powerful and tangible recommitment to racial equality and justice, and for that to be the benchmark for the way we work and behave towards each other in our firm and in our society as a whole.