Vice President Harris made an unannounced visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Monday to meet with a group of children to mark Juneteenth.
Harris, who was greeted with a round of applause from the surprised room, spoke about the need to celebrate the principle of freedom on Juneteenth, the federal holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.
“Happy Juneteenth, young leaders!” Harris said. “Today is a day to celebrate the principle of freedom. And think about it in terms of the context of history, knowing that Black people in America were not free for 400 years of slavery, but then at the end of slavery — right? — when that declaration happened, when the Emancipation Proclamation happened, that America had to really think about defining freedom.”
