
Juneteenth 2021 by the numbers
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Here’s a look at Juneteenth, also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and Jubilee Day, by the numbers:
46,713,850 – Black or African American people (one race alone or in combination) in the United States in 2019, according to the most recent Census Bureau estimate.
500,000 – Estimated number of free African American people in the United States in 1860. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, about half were in the North and half were in the South.
149 – Age of the oldest Juneteenth celebration in the world, first held in 1872 in Emancipation Park in Houston.
“Every year we must remind successive generations that this event triggered a series of events that one by one defines the challenges and responsibilities of successive generations. That’s why we need this holiday.” — Al Edwards (D-Texas), sponsor of the bill.
41 – Years since January 1, 1980, when Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas. It had been celebrated informally there since 1865.
15 – States where it was legal to enslave people before the Civil War: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
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