Will Mahwah Recognize Juneteenth? To Be Determined

MAHWAH, NJ — The Township Council is considering a resolution that would recognize Juneteenth as a holiday in Mahwah. What that looks like remains uncertain.

Council member Robert Ferguson said, at minimum, getting recognition of the day on the township calendar is something Mahwah should do moving forward.

Juneteenth, short for June 19th, is the day in which the last slaves were freed in the United States in Galveston, Texas.

A bulk of time at the July 8 Township Council meeting in Mahwah was spent talking about the idea of retroactively recognizing the 2020 holiday.

"It's not going to change the past, but at the same time I think it'll make note that this council recognizes it as something of importance," said Ferguson. "I think we should do that."

Brian Campion, Township Attorney, said that a retroactive resolution could be passed, but legally it doesn't have any effect.

Mayor John Roth said that the township was committed to recognizing the holiday annually moving forward, but said that to honor something that happened over a month ago seemed inconsequential.

"It seems kind of silly going backwards," he said, "but going forward we're going to recognize it forever."

If passed as a resolution, the Council would have to vote on the measure every year to ensure that the holiday was officially recognized.

Campion added that the township will need to consider what declaring Juneteenth a legal holiday would mean for operations. Employees receive a day off on legal holidays, for instance.

Council member Jonathan Wong said this was something the ordinance committee could discuss how to move forward with, and report back to the Township Council.

At a June protest in Mahwah, the Mahwah Alliance for Change stated that a goal of the group was to push the township to recognize Juneteenth.

Read more: Mahwah Alliance For Change Says Saturday Protest Was 'Historic'