“If you really want to put your skin in the game, you’re making it a paid vacation,” he said. Such actions show civil servants, he added, that “this is a sacrifice on our part.” We must also recognize that June is a day to be celebrated by all Americans, not just black people, said Professor Neal. “You think of June and Independence Day as a kind of library of this idea of American democracy and freedom,” he said. Texas became the first state in the country to take a Juneteenth break in 1980. Mr. Biden signed the federal law holiday on June 17, 2021. Now, 24 states and the District of Columbia are on vacation. They are, according to Pew: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New Mexico, New Mexico , Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
