Reports: Dallas Cowboys make Juneteenth paid holiday for employees

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 05: A Dallas Cowboys helmet at AT&T Stadium on November 5, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Dallas Cowboys have reportedly joined other professional sports teams in designating Juneteenth as a permanent paid holiday for all employees.

Multiple reports show that it was announced earlier this week that all Cowboys employees will get Friday, June 19, off as a paid holiday.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery. Although slavery was already abolished more than two years earlier by the Emancipation Proclamation, it continued in some areas.

The decision comes after other businesses, including Nike and Twitter, and other NFL teams announced that their employees will get the day off as a holiday.

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It also comes more than a week after the team released a video showing previous conversations between players, police, and judges about social injustice.

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