New York first designated Juneteenth as an official state holiday on June 19, 2021, the same year it became a federal holiday. Juneteenth (short for June 19th) commemorates African American freedom from enslavement in the United States. Its history goes back to June 19, 1865, when Union Army General Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that declared all enslaved people were free.
While President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation a full two and a half years earlier on January 1, 1863, and Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee had surrendered in the spring of that year, signaling the end of the Civil War, it wasn't until the federal orders reached Galveston that enslaved people in Texas knew they could act upon that freedom.
Some families remained in the southern states they considered home and built thriving communities. Others immediately left these states in search of lost family members and thus were part of the early stages of what became the Great Migration from the American South to northern, midwestern, and western states. During this time, some formerly enslaved people ultimately made New York their home and built strong communities, including the historic Rapp Road Community in the Pine Bush neighborhood in Albany, Seneca Village, which was in the area now home to Central Park in Manhattan, and Timbuctoo, a settlement established in the Adirondacks in 1846.
While many believe Juneteenth marked the end of racial oppression, the unfortunate reality is that the struggle for equality and freedom was far from over. Collective enslavement of all African Americans was replaced with policies such as the often-exploitative practices of sharecropping and convict leasing, in addition to policies such as redlining, segregated education, and Jim Crow laws. In addition, many communities of color endured, and in many notable cases, continue to endure environmental harms in or near their neighborhoods.
For too many communities, the struggle to achieve equity and justice continues into the present day as positive steps to address inequality advanced through the Civil Rights Movement are reversed or undermined by challenges to voting rights, college admissions, workplace opportunities, environmental justice, and even how history is taught, including the history of Juneteenth.
DEC recognizes the ongoing struggle and delayed liberation some communities continue to face. We support the spirit of Juneteenth every day with our commitment to equity and justice. Examples of DEC's work include:
- Ensuring all New Yorkers and visitors have the freedom to access, enjoy, and feel welcome on State lands;
- Providing competitive Community Impact Grants that empower communities to develop and implement solutions to environmental justice issues;
- Facilitating the Climate Justice Working Group, composed of representatives from environmental justice communities statewide, in developing the criteria for identifying disadvantaged communities and ensuring these populations receive at least 35 percent, with the goal of 40 percent, of the benefits of investments from the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022.
- Undertaking a statewide community air quality monitoring effort in 10 disadvantaged communities that are home to an estimated five million New Yorkers. After a year of study, DEC's Division of Air Resources is now partnering with communities to develop mitigation strategies to improve air quality for these areas long overburdened by environmental pollution.
This Juneteenth, we continue to advance environmental and climate justice in all communities and areas of the state. The freedom to enjoy a clean and safe environment is vital to every New Yorker, and we will continue to work to bring equity and justice to historically overburdened communities.
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