In another sign of the NFL’s rapid evolution on racial issues this month, the league’s offices will mark Juneteenth as a company holiday for the first time next week. Juneteenth, June 19th, commemorates the formal end of the Civil War and the effective end of slavery in the U.S. It has long been celebrated by black Americans but has traditionally had little legal recognition. “This year, as we work together as a family and in our communities to combat the racial injustices that remain deeply rooted into the fabric of our society, the NFL will observe Juneteenth on Friday, June 19th as a recognized holiday and our league offices will be closed,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a memo to staff. "It is a day to reflect on our past, but more importantly, consider how each one of us can continue to show up and band together to work toward a better future.” While the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, it could not be enforced in the Confederate states until the treason was subdued. The war ended on June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers took Galveston, Texas. “The power of this historical feat in our country’s blemished history is felt each year, but there is no question that the magnitude of this event weighs even more heavily today in the current climate,” Goodell wrote.
