As Juneteenth becomes a federal holiday, what happens in North Carolina?
When state Sen. Paul Lowe looks back at his childhood he remembers the importance of celebrating the end of slavery in the United States.
Every year his family would gather to eat ribs and potato salad and drink red soda water. And even after moving away to Dallas for college, Lowe said, laughing, he remembers the radio DJ calling for people to get their ribs ready for their Juneteenth celebrations.
Texas is where the tradition began of celebrating June 19 as the anniversary of the day in 1865 that people received word of emancipation.
Earlier this year, Lowe reached across the aisle to his colleague in the Forsyth County delegation, Sen. Joyce Krawiec, a Republican, and together with a handful of cosponsors filed a bill to recognize Juneteenth in North Carolina.
They filed Senate Bill 143 on Feb. 25 — and it hasn’t been touched since that date. But Lowe said Thursday morning that he had received a call Wednesday that his bill may get a second chance.
“The Rules (Committee) chairman called me yesterday and said he was going to move the bill forward,” Lowe said. “So whenever it goes forward it goes forward. That’s all I know.”
But the federal government might make Lowe’s bill a moot point.
Congress voted this week to make Juneteenth a national holiday. President Joe Biden signed that into law Thursday afternoon.
North Carolina has an existing law that says the state will automatically recognize the day as well.
In 2007, former Gov. Mike Easley, a Democrat, signed House Bill 1607 into law. It would automatically recognize June 19 if federal lawmakers ever voted to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
It’s unclear if that law would create a state holiday or just offer recognition of the day. Lawmakers said they’re looking into that.
Former Gov. Bev Perdue, who was Senate president when House Bill 1607 passed, signed at least one proclamation recognizing Juneteenth and Gov. Roy Cooper has done so as well throughout his tenure.
“The Governor supports the passage of a federal Juneteenth holiday and plans to separately recognize Juneteenth in North Carolina tomorrow,” said Ford Porter, Cooper’s spokesman, in an email. “It’s important to both celebrate the progress we’ve made and accept the great challenge we still face to achieve true racial equality. “
Lowe said when he filed his bill he sought only recognition of the day. He said the federal law, though, would open a new conversation for state lawmakers to create a holiday in North Carolina.
Lowe said recognizing Juneteenth in North Carolina is long overdue.
“I think it’s important we recognize the ending of slavery in America,” Lowe said.
The senator said he grew up celebrating Juneteenth in Seattle where it was much more heavily recognized. But he added that moving to Dallas, Texas, for college opened his eyes to just how big the holiday celebration is in other parts of the country.
“In Texas it was just unbelievable,” Lowe said. “A lot of barbecuing, a lot of brisket and a lot of ribs and red soda water.”
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 2:32 PM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed who was governor when House Bill 1607 was signed into law in 2007. Former Gov. Mike Easley was governor at the time.
