USCMO Marks Juneteenth, Encourages Concrete Action to Advance Racial Justice

(WASHINGTON, DC – 6/19/2021) The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), the nation’s largest umbrella group for Muslim organizations, today joined people across America in marking this historic Juneteenth, the first since President Biden and Congress officially declared the commemoration a federal holiday.

In a statement, USCMO Secretary-General Oussama Jammal said:

“We commend President Biden and Congress for making Juneteenth a federal holiday, and we thank Opal Lee and all of the other African-American leaders who helped bring this historic moment to fruition.

“As we mark this historic day and celebrate this historic decision, we remind Congress that the establishment of Juneteenth as a federal holiday cannot act as a substitute for concrete measures to advance racial justice, including the protection of voting rights and implementing police reform.”

USCMO noted that during next week’s National Muslim Hill Day, Muslim Americans who meet with their Senators plan to advocate for passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and other important legislation.

On June 19, 1865, a group of enslaved African Americans in Texas learned that the United States had won the Civil War and they had actually been set free by the Emancipation Proclamation over two years earlier. Juneteenth is the holiday African Americans established to celebrate that moment and the end of slavery.