SALT LAKE CITY — Raising the Juneteenth flag is not new to Salt Lake City.
The Juneteenth holiday, which falls on June 19, celebrates the official emancipation of slaves, and it’s one that the state now officially recognizes.
“What we’re doing today is what we do every year,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. “This is not a new thing. It is not a change in our practice. It is something that we do as a community: raising the Juneteenth flag every single year."
A bill from the legislative session earlier this year threatened the flag’s presence at the City & County Building. House Bill 77, which passed, limits the kinds of flags a Utah city can display publicly on government property, unless the flag meets the criteria outlined in the bill, making it an “exempted flag.”
“I was concerned that we are still trying to go backwards,” said Betty Sawyer with the Project Success Coalition. “We’re supposed to go forward as a state. Diversity is real, inclusion is real. These are things that we say we value. But being able to work directly with the mayor and the city council to find a way, that’s what we do. We’re creative; we’ll find a way.”
Last month, the Salt Lake City Council officially adopted three new city flags in addition to the tried-and-true sego lily flag, ensuring the Juneteenth flag and others could fly on city property.
WATCH: Salt Lake City adopts new flags to circumvent Utah's flag law
“It feels very good. It feels like we’re being consistent with our values, which I believe are American values,” Mendenhall said.
For those celebrating at the ceremony a week ahead of the holiday, they’re hoping that the continued commemoration of history is one that will be used as a springboard to do more critical work in the community.
“I’m just hoping that other cities in our state reconsider this policy to make sure the Juneteenth flag is included, since we are a state and national holiday, and that we don’t get sidetracked with things like this,” said Sawyer.
