Biden Makes Juneteenth a Holiday, 156 Years After Slavery’s End

President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday making Juneteenth a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S., with most U.S. government employees granted paid leave on Friday.

“Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments,” Biden said during a ceremony at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris. “They embrace them.”

The act establishes the first new federal holiday in nearly four decades, and comes after more than a year of a national racial reckoning sparked by police killings of Black Americans. Juneteenth marks the day when the last enslaved African Americans were ordered freed ...