It’s Juneteenth, one of 11 federal holidays we now have. But a surprising number of people have still never heard of it.
A new poll found 13%, or one in eight Americans, have never heard of Juneteenth. Which is a lot, but better than three years ago when one in four had never heard of it. Over a third of us still don’t know what it’s ABOUT though.
Here are a few more quick stats from the poll . . .
1. Only 62% of people know what Juneteenth is celebrating. Congress made it a federal holiday in 2021 to celebrate the END OF SLAVERY in the U.S.
President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. But the last slaves in Galveston, Texas weren’t freed until two-and-a-half years later on June 19th, 1865, so, 160 years ago today.
2. “Juneteenth” isn’t a new word. It’s a mash-up of “June” and “nineteenth” that was first coined way back in the 1890s.
3. 29% of Americans say they’ve celebrated Juneteenth before. Around one in six said they were planning to do something to celebrate it this year.
4. Most Americans are on board with it now, but not everyone. 22% don’t think it deserves to be a federal holiday.
5. 90% of Americans agree racism is still a problem in 2025. 55% said a major problem, 35% said a minor issue, and 10% said not a problem at all.
(YouGov)
