What in the hell is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth is a holiday celebrating the liberation of those who had been held as slaves in the United States. Originating in Texas, it is now celebrated annually on the 19th of June throughout the United States, with varying official recognition. Wikipedia
On June 19, 1865, the announcement was made that tens of thousands of African-Americans in Texas had been emancipated, closing the door on one of the last chapters of slavery in the U.S.
Juneteenth traces its origins back to Galveston, Texas where on June 19, 1865 Union soldiers, led by Major Gen. Gordon Granger landed in the city with news that the Civil War had ended and slaves were now free. The announcement came two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863 that freed slaves in Confederate states. However, since that proclamation was made during the Civil War, it was ignored by Confederate states and it wasn’t until the end of the war that the Executive Order was enforced in the South.
The day's name is a combination of "June" and "nineteenth" in honor of the date of Granger's announcement and first appeared around 1903. It is also known as African American Freedom Day or Emancipation Day.
BUT... making it a National Holiday? Well... personally, I think it makes more sense to make it a National Holiday than the National Holiday that was created for MLK Jr.
HOWEVER, if I was still working, I would like the idea of another PAID HOLIDAY regardless of where it came from...
MY CONCERN: Will this stop RACISM in America?
My answer: NO...
Holidays and de-funding the police and killing white folks in retaliation or even paying black reparations for slavery will not stop RACISM in America.
I've got a better idea: LET'S REMOVE SLAVERY FROM OUR HISTORY BOOKS
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