HONOLULU Lindsay Myeni and her South African husband moved to Hawaii, where she grew up, believing it would be safer to raise their two Black children here than in another U.S. state.Three months after they arrived, Honolulu police shot and killed.
Honolulu police shot and killed Lindani Myeni, a Black man, three months after he moved to Hawaii with his wife, believing it would be safer place to raise their two Black children
Hawaii Close to Honoring Juneteenth, Leaving 1 State Holdout
NBC News, April 27, 2021
Hawaii was poised to become the 49th state to recognize Juneteenth after the House and Senate on Tuesday passed legislation designating June 19 as a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.
If Hawaii’s governor signs the bill, South Dakota would be the only remaining state that doesn’t recognize the day as either a state holiday or a day of observance. South Dakota’s Senate passed a measure earlier this year that would observe the day, but the bill didn’t make it through the House. In North Dakota, the governor on April 12 signed legislation designating it a ceremonial holiday.
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Hawaii could become the 49th state in the union to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. On Tuesday, the House and Senate approved Bill SB3506 that would honor “the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally, the emancipation of enslaved African Americans throughout the former Confederate states.”
According to the legislation, the youngest state in the nation, which became a part of the United States in 1959, is also one of four that did not recognize Juneteenth as a holiday.
Gov. David Ige (D- Hawaii), who is of Japanese descent, would have the final word on the island’s observation of Juneteenth as a holiday. He hasn’t indicated if he will approve the measure, the Associated Press reported.