Juneteenth to Become Paid Holiday for Louisville Metro Government Employees

Check it out! Starting in 2021, Mayor Fischer has declared Juneteenth as a paid holiday for Louisville Metro Government employees.

Louisville mayor Greg Fischer says ending slavery left former slaves with a lot of problems.

“The heartbreaking truth is that although they were free, most former slaves had no wealth, no resources and faced violent resistance to exercising their constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Fischer said. “Unfortunately that’s a heartbreaking challenge we still see here today.”

June 19, 2020 is the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth. On that date in 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to let the remaining slaves know that the Civil War was over and that they were free.

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