New York City will mark the anniversary of Juneteenth by investing millions of dollars in scholarships and educational opportunities for black and low-income students.
Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the Juneteenth Economic Justice Plan on Thursday, which in part addresses the racial disparities in education. The city plan will include universal scholarship accounts for kindergarten students, as well as some college scholarships for black and low-income students and 200 paid internships.
“Here is a moment to really reflect on history and act on history,” de Blasio said. “It is a day specifically celebrating the emancipation of black slaves in this country. But it really needs to be so much more. It needs to be a day for fundamental change.”
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The overall plan will invest nearly $65 million in educational opportunities, which includes $15 million in savings accounts for every child starting public school in 2021, with at least $100 going into each account.
Roughly $45 million will be aimed toward nearly 3,000 scholarships for black and low-income students who attend colleges within the city’s public university system.
Additionally, $4.5 million will be given over five years to the Brooklyn Recovery Corps to provide paid internships to 200 students from the borough.
De Blasio’s mayoral term will end Dec. 31. Due to term limits, the Democratic mayor is unable to run for a third term. It’s unclear whether his successor will continue his investments.
Juneteenth, which falls annually on June 19, recognizes the last slaves who were freed in Galveston, Texas, on that date in 1865 — more than two years after former President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech.
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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday to make Juneteenth the 11th federal public holiday. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Thursday.
