Hundreds rally to make Juneteenth an officially recognized holiday in Nassau County
Organizers of the rally held at the County Legislative Building in Mineola say Nassau is one of the last counties in the country to not officially recognize the date as a holiday.
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Hundreds of Nassau County workers, civil rights leaders and residents rallied together on Tuesday to call on leadership to make Juneteenth an officially recognized holiday in the county.
Organizers of the rally held at the County Legislative Building in Mineola say Nassau is one of the last counties in the country to not officially recognize the date as a holiday.
"This issue has become an embarrassment for this county. There is no reason that we should be the ones that are standing out by not having this holiday,” Leg. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton said at the rally.
But Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is campaigning to be New York’s next governor, did not appear open to the idea.
“Every county except for one in the state has 13 paid holidays. We have 13 paid holidays here…" said Blakeman, "It has nothing to do with Juneteenth; it’s just the fact that we’re going to hold 13 holidays. We think it’s financially prudent.”
Juneteenth has been a federally celebrated holiday since 2021 and honors the end of slavery in America. The name Juneteenth is a portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth," and harkens back to June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Texas - the westernmost Confederate state - learned of their freedom from Union troops.
