NEW YORK • Americans celebrated the first-ever "Juneteenth" - a newly declared national holiday that marks the end of slavery - just a year after unarmed black man George Floyd's murder sparked anti-racism protests with marches, music and speeches.
Hundreds of events were held last Saturday across the United States - from New York to Los Angeles, and most notably in Galveston, Texas, the symbolic heart of the Juneteenth commemoration.
It was on June 19, 1865, in that Texas coastal area that the Union army - victorious after the bitterly fought Civil War - announced to African Americans that, even if some in Texas were trying to ignore it, enslaved people were now free. Slavery was formally abolished in December 1865, with the adoption of the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, but Juneteenth has remained the emblematic date marking the freeing of enslaved Americans.
This year's Juneteenth celebrations were all the more celebratory, coming just days after President Joe Biden signed legislation making the day a national holiday, and also at a time when coronavirus-imposed restrictions on public gatherings are steadily being eased.
"It was a long time coming," said Ms Cheryl Green, 68. She was attending the unveiling in Brooklyn of a bust of Mr Floyd, who was killed by a white policeman in Minneapolis in May last year.
"It's good that people get to recognise what happened," said Ms Green, an African American. "Changes are being made slowly, but surely we'll get there."
Mr Floyd's killing touched off a sweeping protest movement - in the US and around the globe - against racism and police violence towards minorities. That movement helped boost the visibility of Juneteenth - a date that many Americans had not heard of even two years ago. An opinion survey published last Tuesday by the Gallup institute found that 28 per cent of Americans knew "nothing at all" about the anniversary.
Celebrating Juneteenth now seems "a bit surreal", at a time when legislators in many Republican-led states are passing laws that will suppress the vote and "most acutely affect communities of colour", tweeted Mr Sharif Street, a black state legislator from Pennsylvania.
From January through May, 14 states passed laws limiting opportunities to vote - measures seen as aimed at reducing the influence of minority voters, particularly African Americans.
Last Friday, the mayors of 11 American cities, including Los Angeles and Denver, vowed to pursue the question of how best to carry out reparations for slavery. They invited Congress and the US government to follow their example.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
