LA County Commission on Human Relations Honors Juneteenth and Reminds all Angelenos To Celebrate Freedom and Strive for Racial Justice

LA County Human Relations Commission honors Juneteenth celebration and urges all LA County residents to celebrate freedom in our nation’s quest for racial justice.

LOS ANGELES, CA–Today, the Commission on Human Relations strongly encourages our entire County family to honor and celebrate Juneteenth. The motion our Board of Supervisors passed unanimously four years ago to recognize Juneteenth every year describes it as an annual opportunity “to celebrate freedom and recognize our country’s continued commitment to ending racial injustices.” Putting this commitment into action is an urgent need and an enduring challenge.

Juneteenth commemorates the arrival of US Army General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all enslaved persons in states in rebellion against the Union, went into effect on January 1, 1863, nearly 2½ years earlier. But it was not until General Granger’s arrival that the promise of the Proclamation could become the reality for the estimated 250,000 people still in bondage in Texas.

At a time when so much of the promise represented in our nation’s stated values and founding principles are still not the reality for many vulnerable, excluded, and historically oppressed communities seeking to thrive here, Juneteenth is both a desperately needed reminder that the important work of ending injustice is unfinished, and a timely and compelling call to reinforce and expand our efforts to transform our vision for justice into daily experience.

About the LA County Commission on Human Relations

The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations is dedicated to protecting human rights and promoting positive human relations in our richly diverse, multicultural county throughout all five Supervisorial Districts. The Commission works to develop programs that proactively address racism, homophobia, religious prejudice, linguistic bias, anti-immigrant sentiment, and other divisive attitudes that can lead to intercultural tension, hate crimes, and related violence.

For more information about LA County’s Commission on Human Relations, click here.

About LA vs Hate

LA vs Hate is a community-centered system designed to support all residents of Los Angeles County. Led by the Human Relations Commission, LA vs Hate partners with community partners from all five County districts, representing a diverse coalition of voices committed to ending hate. The system aims to address the normalization of hate and inspire people to stand up to it, build understanding about what constitutes a hate act and how to report it, as well as support individuals and communities as they heal from the trauma of hate and work to end systemic discrimination. By tracking and reporting hate, we can ensure that resources are allocated appropriately, that those targeted by hate receive the support they need, and that together, we can build respectful and resilient communities in solidarity with one another. For more information about LA vs Hate, click here.