Act No. 215
Public Acts of 2023
Approved by the Governor
November 22, 2023
Filed with the Secretary of State
November 22, 2023
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 13, 2024
STATE OF MICHIGAN
102ND LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2023
Introduced by Reps. Scott, Brenda Carter, Young, Tyrone Carter, Grant, Weiss, Hoskins, O’Neal,
McKinney, Dievendorf, Edwards, Wilson, Brixie, Stone, Arbit, Morse, Glanville, Price, Brabec,
Coffia, Hill, Hood, Churches, Snyder, Liberati, Coleman, Hope, Breen, Paiz, Morga n, Miller,
Byrnes, Haadsma, Steckloff, Andrews, Tsernoglou, Rogers, Conlin, Martus, Puri, Zorn, Kunse,
Mentzer, Rheingans, Farhat, Wegela, McFall, Shannon, Meerman, Koleszar and Aiyash
ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4457
AN ACT to designate June 19 of each year as Juneteenth.
The People of the State of Michigan enact:
Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that slavery existed in American history for more than 200 years. Millions
of African-Americans were brought to the Americas as slaves stacked in the bottom of slave ships in a 5- to
12-week journey across the Atlantic Ocean known as the “Middle Passage”. Although approximately
11,500,000 African-Americans survived the voyage across the ocean, the number of those who died in the inhuman
conditions of the passage is probably even higher. Once in the United States, the slaves were subjected to
whipping, castration, branding, and rape. The legislature further observes that President Abraham Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863 and declared that all slaves in Confederate-controlled
areas were free. In the following months, spontaneous celebrations erupted throughout the United States as
African-Americans learned of their freedom. News of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the states at
different times, and it was not until June 19, 1865 that the message of freedom reached the state of Texas. In
honor of this great moment in United States history, the legislature declares that June 19 of each year shall be
known as “Juneteenth”.
(2) The legislature encourages each individual in this state to pause on Juneteenth and reflect on the strong
survival instinct of the African-American slaves and the excitement and great joy with which African-Americans
first celebrated the emancipation from slavery. It is a reminder to all Americans of the status and importance of
Americans of African descent as American citizens.
(174)
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Enacting section 1. This act does not take effect unless House Bill No. 4722 of the 102nd Legislature is enacted
into law.
Secretary of the Senate
Approved
Governor
Compiler's note: House Bill No. 4722, referred to in enacting section 1, was filed with the Secretary of State
November 22, 2023, and became 2023 PA 216, Eff. Feb. 13, 2024.
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