County adopts Juneteenth, with likely name change

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

A seemingly run-of-the-mill human resources item turned into a discussion on race during the Nov. 9 Bonner County commissioner meeting, during which the board took up the adoption of Juneteenth as a federal paid holiday for county employees.

“We currently recognize all federal holidays,” said Human Resources Director Cindy Binkerd, who noted that it is county policy to do so.

County resident Doug Paterson asked during public comment whether adopting the new federal holiday — meant to commemorate the day in 1865 that Texas learned about the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War — would cost taxpayers money. Commissioner Dan McDonald shared that “payroll is already figured in,” which wouldn’t add any cost, but that it would be one less work day.01

“We’re not excited about it, but it’s the policy,” McDonald said. “You can’t play fast and loose with policy.”

Though recognized as a holiday or day of observance in 47 states prior to this year, June 19 gained federal designation in 2021. The Black Lives Matter movement has propelled the holiday into the mainstream in recent years, with the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 leading to the widest observance of Juneteenth to date. Though it commemorates the last state in the country being informed that Black Americans were freed from slavery, Juneteenth has also evolved into a celebration of Black culture and ancestral appreciation. However, critics, such as U.S. Representative Matt Rosendale of Montana, see the holiday’s federal designation as tied to “identity politics.”

“Do you have to officially say that that’s what you’re celebrating — this arbitrary, enslaved people’s free day?” asked Asia Williams, a self-identified person of color, at the commissioner’s Nov. 9 meeting. “We’ve done Martin Luther King [Jr. Day], we’ve floated Washington’s birthday, we decided Columbus didn’t exist anymore. We’ve done a lot with holidays, but this one is particularly very polarizing in this country.”

McDonald, after making the point that Bonner County does celebrate Columbus Day rather than the newly recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day, went on to share that a “robust” conversation “with a lot of pushback” took place when commissioners originally discussed Juneteenth in executive session. However, in order to stay in line with county policy, commissioners decided to adopt the holiday.

“If the white guy said ‘We’re not going to honor Juneteenth’ — you see where that’s going to go,” Commissioner Steve Bradshaw said.

Still, discussion continued about the political nature of the holiday, with county resident Kendra Martin calling it a “potential danger” that “takes away from our country.” 

“Otherwise we need to have Asian holidays, we need to have Moroccan holidays, we need to have European holidays. We’re on a slippery slope,” she said. “It takes strong people to stand up and say, ‘OK, we’ve got to adjust this a little bit. We’ll figure out how we’re going to comply, but we don’t need to polarize it.’”

Though commissioners voted unanimously to recognize June 19 as a paid holiday moving forward, McDonald said: “We could observe the day and call it something else.”

“We’ll figure out another way to skin this cat,” he added.