Pres. Biden's warning at the White House Juneteenth concert: "There are old ghosts in new garments"

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Speaking from the South Lawn of the White House, where he held a concert in honor of the upcoming holiday, Mr. Biden assailed efforts to erase Black history through book bans, limit opportunities through attacks on diversity programs and chip away at freedoms like the right to vote.

Mr. Biden signed legislation in 2021 making June 19, or Juneteenth, a federal holiday, the first new national holiday since one honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was established in 1983. The holiday marks the day in 1865 that the last remaining slaves, living in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

The day had long been celebrated by Black Americans, but members of Congress and a civil rights activist from Texas pushed for years to make it a federal holiday. Mr. Biden has said that signing the legislation was one of his proudest moments as president.

“It wasn’t just a symbolic gesture,” Mr. Biden said. “It was a statement of fact. It was about a statement of faith. It was a testament to the resilience of generations of Black Americans, who kept their eyes set on the nation’s North Star.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/us/politics/biden-juneteenth.html

FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Protect and Preserve Our Nation’s African American History Ahead of Juneteenth National Independence Day
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/06/10/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-actions-to-protect-and-preserve-our-nations-african-american-history-ahead-of-juneteenth-national-independence-day/