NFL honors Juneteenth: See how teams are celebrating Freedom Day on social media
It is a day of reverence as the nation remembers the end of slavery. As such, several NFL teams have honored those of the past. How so? Let’s take a look.
Juneteenth is a day that recognizes the end of one of the darkest chapters in American history. Indeed, it was on June 19th, in 1865 when Union soldiers finally landed in Galveston, Texas, where they announced the end of slavery and of course, the conclusion of the Civil War itself.
The NFL honors Juneteenth
It was just four years ago in June 2020, when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the NFL would from that day recognize Juneteenth as a holiday and that the league’s offices themselves would close in observance. To that end, it was inspiring to see the tradition once again continuing on Wednesday with multiple teams around the league paying tribute to the day and the impact that it has had.
To be clear, ‘Juneteenth’ is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth but as you likely know the day is also referred to as Emancipation Day and Freedom Day, a reference to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, which incidentally occurred on January 1st, 1865 - almost two years later.
Indeed, while the last remaining slaves were freed in the states, it was Texas that took some time to adopt the new laws. Today, Juneteenth celebrations include parades, religious ceremonies, and a number of festivals. Below you can see a selection of the posts made by various teams from around the league: