While Juneteenth is a US Holiday, some workers in Indianapolis did not get the day off

It's been just over a year since President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, making it a federal holiday. Since the holiday fell on a Sunday this year, the official observance shifted to Monday.

Juneteenth, a combination of “June” and “nineteenth” — the day the holiday is celebrated — commemorates when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free in 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Texas was the first state to recognize Juneteenth — also known as “Emancipation Day” in the state — as a statewide holiday in 1980.

While at least 24 states and D.C. have passed their own legislation to recognize the holiday — shutting government offices and giving state employees a paid day off — Indiana is not one of them, according to the Pew Research Center.

Gov. Eric Holcomb issued a proclamation Sunday, stating that that day was to be officially seen as Juneteenth. The governor's office told IndyStar that state holidays are determined by the Indiana General Assembly. IndyStar reached out to the General Assembly for comment but did not receive a response.

The Indianapolis City-County Council, however, passed legislation to memorialize Juneteenth, along with Indigenous Peoples Day, in 2020, with government employees receiving the days off for the first time in 2021.

More: Indianapolis recognizes Juneteenth, Indigenous Peoples Day as employee holidays

IndyStar spoke with people working at Indianapolis businesses on Monday about their understanding of the holiday.

Interviews have been edited for clarity and conciseness.

Skylar Allman

21, from Greenwood, works in customer service, was aware Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday.

Would the day have more significance if you had it off?

Allman: Yeah, for sure. I think it would give you more time to reflect on it and to actually appreciate it. If you’re working, you don’t really have time to celebrate it or anything. It’s more like a normal day, at least it’s treated as that. It shouldn’t be.

Do you think we need to do more to raise awareness around this holiday?

Allman: Yeah, definitely… because it’s celebrating a big part in our history, and a good thing for America.

Sarah Brent

25, Indianapolis, works in bookkeeping and sales, was aware Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday.

Would the day have more significance if you had it off?

Brent: Probably, since I’m here in the city, I’m kind of in the middle. I think with it having the off-day, you know that it’s important enough to focus on it.

Do you think we need to do more to raise awareness around this holiday?

Brent: Yeah, if it’s a federal holiday... and places are closed, you know that you’re focusing on that holiday. Like, everyone is involved and they’re focusing and then it makes it more important. But, when you have a federal holiday and it’s like half-and-half… not a lot of people are gonna pay attention to it, or they might not even know what today is.

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Thomas Gonyea

36, from Indianapolis, a freelance artist, was aware Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday.

Would the day have more significance if you had it off?

Gonyea: I have to work most ... federal holidays, so not particularly. I'm aware of the significance and the importance. I just usually have to work anyway as it is.

Do you think we need to do more to raise awareness around this holiday?

Gonyea: I think a lot of people are still unsure of what it's for, so I think it couldn't hurt if more people knew about it.

Lorenzo Martinez

25, originally from Long Island, a cook, was not aware Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday but had previously heard of it.

Would the day have more significance if you had it off?

Martinez: Yes, I mean, definitely... Even if you don’t celebrate it, I'm sure people would appreciate it.

Do you think we need to do more to raise awareness around this holiday?

Martinez: I’m not really a holiday person. It wouldn’t really stop me from working anyway.

Kim Nething

52, from Indianapolis, a retail owner, was aware Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday.

Would the day have more significance if you had it off?

Nething: Honestly, I don't feel that whether we have a day off or not would provide any more of a significance of what it is to everyone... Being a retail owner, usually, holidays are something that brings families and society out, so we actually provide, you know, the environment that we have in our shop. We actually provide people a place to go and ... gather and celebrate.

Do you think we need to do more to raise awareness around this holiday?

Nething: For me, ... it's still new being a federal holiday even though, you know, I was raised in the 70s and 80s, so it's something we were actually taught in school. So, you know, awareness raised is something that, you know, comes from schooling and comes from home life, and I think each family treats every holiday different.

Janae Rios

35, originally from Chicago, works in valet parking, was made aware Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday earlier Monday.

Would the day have more significance if you had it off?

Rios: Honestly, no. For other reasons that I’d rather not speak on.

Do you think we need to do more to raise awareness around this holiday?

Rios: I would say yes. Everybody knows about President’s Day, Memorial Day and Columbus Day, then why not know about Juneteenth?

Tiffany Tuttle

36, from Indianapolis, works as a retail and e-commerce manager, was aware Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday.

Would the day have more significance if you had it off?

Tuttle: Yes, absolutely. With it being such a relatively new holiday that I think a lot of people don't know a lot about, I think it's incredibly important that we allow people the time and resources to actually learn about that. And it's a lot easier to do that if, for instance, you had the day off and were paid for it. Unfortunately, in retail, it makes it a lot harder without, you know, paid vacations for the vast majority of my staff, which I, unfortunately, have no control over.

Do you think we need to do more to raise awareness around this holiday?

Tuttle: Absolutely, yes... Quite a few people just have ... first of all, no idea about the holiday existing, but especially what's behind it, why it's important. There's not a lot that's being taught in schools but even so less being taught at home about it.

Caitlin Way

22, from Fairland, works in customer service, was aware Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday.

Would the day have more significance if you had it off?

Way: Yes, I mean, I don't know... I feel like there's certain holidays they do and certain holidays they don't. I just don't really know how much more significance it would necessarily give it because there's a lot of other really significant holidays that we also don't get off... Would everyone love another day off work? Yes. But is it necessarily for the right reasons? Probably not.

Do you think we need to do more to raise awareness around this holiday?

Way: Yes, definitely. I feel like a lot of people don't even know what Juneteenth is.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: While Juneteenth is a US Holiday, some Indiana businesses still open