UMass Ballot: Democrats and Republicans divided over Juneteenth

Politics

Most Democrat and Black respondents stated that Juneteenth must be a federal vacation. Solely 13% of Republican respondents agreed.

Most Democrat and Black respondents stated that Juneteenth must be a federal vacation. Lower than 15% of Republican respondents agreed. Laylah Amatullah Barrayn/The New York Instances

On Monday, Juneteenth celebrations will happen throughout Boston.

Deemed a state vacation in 2020 and a federal vacation in 2021, June 19 commemorates the arrival of Union troopers in Galveston, Texas in 1865 — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation — to tell enslaved folks of their freedom and the top of the Civil Warfare.

However in accordance with a brand new College of Massachusetts Amherst and WCVB Ballot, which surveyed 1,133 folks between Might 31 and June 8, some consider the date ought to have by no means been made a federal vacation.

Based on the ballot, 42% of respondents stated they strongly or considerably assist Juneteenth being marked a federal vacation. And whereas 69% of Democrats confirmed assist, solely 13% of Republicans and 32% of Independents agreed.

Concerning a query discussing whether or not the importance and historical past of Juneteenth must be taught in lecture rooms, solely 29% of Republicans expressed assist whereas 84% of Democrats answered affirmatively. Seventy-nine % of Black respondents felt the identical, in comparison with 57% of all respondents.

Most, 68%, of Black respondents supported Juneteenth as a federal vacation, one thing solely 38% of white respondents agreed with.

Seventy-six % of Black respondents additionally acknowledged the Republican get together does “not too properly” of a job of representing the pursuits of the Black group — a 37% mark for the Democratic get together. And a overwhelming majority, 91%, of Black respondents stated the legacy of slavery impacts African American folks “a good deal” to “a large amount” at this time, in comparison with 56% of all respondents.

And when requested about the way forward for race relations, 66% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans believed issues will get higher. Fifty-seven % of Black respondents agreed, a mark much like the typical of 61% of all respondents who stated the identical.