Washington(CNN) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday that he will introduce legislation to make Juneteenth a paid state holiday.
"It's time we elevate this, not just a celebration by and for some Virginians, but one acknowledged and celebrated by all of us," Northam, a Democrat, said at a news conference in Richmond.
Northam said Virginia ceremonially recognizes Juneteenth Independence Day with an annual written proclamation, "but we need to do much more." His action, Northam said, would formalize that observation, and Friday will mark a paid day off for executive branch state employees.
The June 19 holiday celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. It commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and told slaves of their emancipation -- more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and months after the end of the Civil War.
The Emancipation Proclamation declared all slaves in the states held by the Confederacy to be free. In practice, this meant that slaves in those states were freed once the Union army liberated them and it took until more than two months after the end of the war -- and Lincoln's death -- for Union troops to reach Galveston.
"Some might say change in a state holiday is merely a symbolic action. But symbols do matter. If they didn't, people wouldn't be fighting so hard to keep Confederate flags and statues up. Symbols show what we value. This symbol, this holiday, is one step toward reconciliation," Northam said.
The governor said that Virginia would become just the second state to observe Juneteenth as a paid holiday for state employees. In 1980, Texas was the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday.
Appearing alongside the governor on Tuesday, music producer and singer Pharrell Williams lauded the announcement as a "big display of progress."
Williams, a Virginia Beach native, said he spoke with Northam over the weekend and "this is what listening looks like."
"Our country excels, and I mean, excels at celebrating Independence Day. But it's not perfect. Juneteenth deserves the same level of recognition and celebration. July 4, 1776, not everybody was free and celebrating their independence day. So here's our day, and if you love us, it'll be your day too," Williams said.
Williams said he would like to see corporations that do business in Virginia give their employees a paid day off.
House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert in a statement Tuesday said he also supports making Juneteenth a paid state holiday, calling it "deserving of its own special recognition and observance."
"July 4th is the birthday of our nation, but Juneteenth is the day where it truly began to fulfill its promise of freedom for all," Gilbert said.
Northam's announcement Tuesday marks the governor's latest move to reckon with Virginia's history as a Confederate state. It also comes at a time of civil unrest as protesters nationwide have called for racial equality, justice and police reforms in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man killed while in police custody.
In April, Northam signed a bill into law that removed the Lee-Jackson Day holiday, which honored Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and instead established Election Day as a holiday.
The governor announced earlier this month plans to remove the state of Lee from Richmond's Monument Avenue, an effort that was temporarily blocked by a Richmond judge and faces legal challenges.
This story has been updated with additional information from Northam's news conference.