Juneteenth is currently a federal holiday and a state holiday in 46 states. South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Oklahoma are the only Southern states that do not recognize Juneteenth as an official state holiday.

It became a U.S. federal holiday in 2021, following the signing of a bill by former President Joe Biden. Long a regional holiday in the South, Juneteenth rose in prominence across the country following protests that swept the world in 2020 over the police killings of George Floyd,

Black communities have celebrated Juneteenth for more than 150 years. But it gained increased national prominence in the wake of the racial reckoning sparked by George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020.