Juneteenth is a holiday marking the day in 1865 when Black slaves in Texas learned of their freedom granted by the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier. It happens every year on June 19 and has been a federal holiday since 2021.
Ahead of the holiday, YouGov surveyed Americans on their familiarity with the holiday and their plans to celebrate it. Compared to 2022, far more Americans — 90% — are now aware of the holiday. Black Americans are particularly likely to say they know a lot about the holiday and to say they plan to celebrate it. They’re also more likely than white Americans and Hispanic Americans to support the inclusion of Juneteenth in the history curricula of public schools.
Nine in 10 Americans have heard of Juneteenth. Awareness of Juneteenth has risen since 2022, when 74% said they had heard of the holiday.
Fewer know about Juneteenth than have heard of it. 77% know at least a little about it. 17% of Americans say they know a lot about the holiday — including 32% of Black Americans, 22% of Hispanic Americans, and 13% of white Americans (13%).
Among Americans who have heard of the holiday, 68% of Americans — including 77% of Black Americans — believe (correctly) that Juneteenth acknowledges the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans. Between 3% and 5% believe it acknowledges each of a few alternatives — including the signing of the Civil Rights Act — and 17% are not sure what it honors.
66% of Americans say they would support the inclusion of Juneteenth in public schools' history curricula, including 41% who would strongly support it. 21% say they would oppose it, including 12% who say they would strongly oppose it.
Black Americans (65%) are more likely than Hispanic Americans (43%) and white Americans (35%) to say they would strongly support the inclusion of Juneteenth in curricula.
Among Democrats, 89% would support public schools including Juneteenth in their curriculum. Among Republicans, 46% say they would support it and about as many (43%) would oppose it, including 26% who are strongly opposed.
Among people who have heard of Juneteenth, most (75%) say they’ve never celebrated it. However, among Black Americans who have heard of the holiday, only 32% have never celebrated it. 68% have celebrated it at least once: 32% every year, 13% several times, and 23% once.
In 2022, a smaller share of those Black Americans who had heard of Juneteenth had ever celebrated it (57%).
Among people who have heard of the holiday, 14% have plans to celebrate Juneteenth in 2024. 41% of Black Americans who have heard of Juneteenth are planning to celebrate the holiday — up from 30% in 2022.
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
See the results from this YouGov poll
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Methodology: The poll was conducted online among 1,152 U.S. adult citizens from May 23 - 26, 2024. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Alex Wong / Staff)
