SC observes Confederate Memorial Day, but not Juneteenth

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Federal offices are closed Thursday June 19th for Juneteenth. The holiday marks the day all enslaved people learned they were free nearly two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

“It’s a part of our history, and I think it should be celebrated when all of us were quote unquote free. Right?” Peaches, SC Resident said.

North Carolina recognizes the holiday, but in South Carolina Juneteenth is not a state holiday. The Palmetto state still observes Confederate Memorial Day which marks the day Confederate General Stonewall Jackson died.

“We’re going back to the Civil War and, fortunately, the South didn’t win that. We’re a United States of America and we should stand as one,” Susan Wexler, SC Resident said.

South Carolina House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford is one of several lawmakers sponsoring a bill to make Juneteenth a holiday in the state.

“When you look at the strides that we’ve made in our country, especially the moves that we made in South Carolina, I mean, we are doing huge things in South Carolina, attracting industry from all over the world,” Representative Rutherford said. “If we’re not going to have a hate crime law right away, we at least should celebrate Juneteenth.”

South Carolina legislators made Confederate Memorial Day a holiday in 2000. At the same time, lawmakers became the last state to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Legislators also flew the Confederate flag on the state house until 2015.

“We’re making progress. I don’t want anybody to think that we’re not, but Juneteenth is certainly one of those things that we need to strive to do,” Representative Rutherford said.

H 3444 to make Juneteenth a state holiday did not make it out of the committee. The SC legislature is no longer in session but Representative Rutherford plans to reintroduce the bill next year.

“Hurry up and get it done. Do what’s right. Get it done,” Wexler said.

Representative Rutherford says he is also proud of the work the legislature is doing to build a statue honoring Robert Smalls, the first Black man to serve in the SC state house at the capitol. This will be the first statue to pay homage to an African American person at the statehouse.