GREENFIELD — The newest federal holiday may not be widely celebrated locally any time soon.
The Hancock County Commissioners are debating whether to recognize the holiday Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery and was recently signed into law as a national holiday by President Joe Biden.
State and local governments are not required by law to recognize federal holidays. At their meeting on Tuesday, June 29, the commissioners asked their attorney to investigate any legal obligations around the holiday they might have.
Commissioner John Jessup noted that the county no longer officially recognizes Columbus Day because it is “offensive to some people” and said they would not want to add another potentially controversial holiday to their schedule.
“I’m inclined to leave our calendar the way it is, but I want to make sure we’re not setting ourselves up for any legal issues,” Commissioner Marc Huber said.
Fellow commissioner Bill Spalding said on Friday, July 2,
that Jessup is entitled to his opinion, but that he hopes the county will recognize Juneteenth, even though it might not be feasible to offer a day off for employees. Spalding said the practicalities of pausing county operations for an additional day could pose an issue.
“I think it’s a holiday we can at least honor with a proclamation,” he said.
Formally known as Juneteenth National Independence Day and celebrated on June 19, the holiday commemorates the day when a proclamation announced the freeing of slaves in June 1865 in Texas, the last state to recognize their freedom. The holiday is a recognition that slavery continued in many states after the Emancipation Proclamation over two years earlier and is often observed as a celebration of Black American culture.
When Biden recognized the new holiday, it became the first new addition to the calendar of federal holidays since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. There are now 11 total federal holidays.
Jill Jones, a community member who attended the commissioners meeting, said she had concerns about the celebration of the holiday and did not want her tax dollars to go toward employees getting the day off. She also expressed concern that the pan-African flag sometimes associated with Juneteenth, which she said had “subliminal messages,” would be flown at county buildings. The commissioners said it would not be.
“I can go ahead and tell you that as long as I’m the president of the board of commissioners, the American flag, the Indiana state flag, and the Hancock County flag will be the only flags that fly in this county,” Jessup said.
“I think it’s an attempt to rewrite our history,” Jones said. “…In my opinion, for what it’s worth, it’s going to cause division, continued division, in our country, and I just don’t want to see that for Hancock County.”
County attorney Scott Benkie and Auditor Debra Carnes said they would look into requirements around federal holidays and what other counties are doing. Carnes said on Friday, July 2, that she has not yet heard from other counties about their approach. She added that she usually finalizes the county calendar for the upcoming year by September.
The city of Greenfield does plan to recognize the holiday with a day off in 2022, Mayor Chuck Fewell’s executive secretary said in an email. The mayor creates the holiday schedule for the city, while the county’s is prepared by the auditor’s office with input from the commissioners.