Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a yearly holiday in Florida commemorating the sacrifices of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Moving forward, Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day will be celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of March in Florida.
The Tuskegee Airmen were our nation’s first Black military pilots.
Several were from Central Florida, including General Daniel Chappie James Jr. and Chief Master Sergeant Richard Hall.
The move comes less than a year after Florida banned AP African American History in the state, and new history standards were rolled out that taught kids that slavery was “beneficial.”
The state also passed the Stop Woke Act limiting how history can be taught in the state.
The first Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day will be celebrated next year on March 27.
The Governor signed the holiday into law, just days before a statewide task force is set to announce the site of Florida’s first Black History Museum. Eatonville along with other Central Florida sites in Seminole County are in the running.
Here's a list of other legal holidays celebrated in Florida as outlined in the State Constitution:
- New Year’s Day, January 1.
- Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15.
- Birthday of Robert E. Lee, January 19.
- Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12.
- Susan B. Anthony’s Birthday, February 15.
- Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February.
- Good Friday.
- Pascua Florida Day, April 2.
- Confederate Memorial Day, April 26.
- Memorial Day, the last Monday in May.
- Birthday of Jefferson Davis, June 3.
- Flag Day, June 14.
- Independence Day, July 4.
- Labor Day, the first Monday in September.
- Columbus Day and Farmers’ Day, the second Monday in October.
- Veterans’ Day, November 11.
- General Election Day.
- Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November.
- Christmas Day, December 25.
- Shrove Tuesday, sometimes also known as “Mardi Gras,” in counties that celebrate carnival
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