Raiders recognizing Juneteenth as an official holiday
The Raiders are joining a group of NFL teams that will recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday Friday by closing their offices and giving their employees a paid day off.
Juneteenth commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. The observance traces back to June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to spread word that the Civil War was officially over and that all slaves were free.
Although the 1865 marker was a full two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Jan. 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation, it wasn’t until the South’s official surrender in April 1865 and the landing of Granger’s soldiers that the United States could fully enforce the proclamation.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.