Happy Juneteenth!
Freedom for all!
"On June 19, 1865, about two months after the Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued nearly two and a half years earlier, on Jan. 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln.
The holiday is also called “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.”"
May this holiday lead to further healing for our young nation as we recognize our past in all it's complexity and continue our growth towards being a more perfect union- without judgement, and with freedom for all.
[edit: this thread has been edited and 🔒 locked. See the Moderator Sticky thread for details. -rob f]
NittanyFan
June 19th, 2023 at 12:56 PM ^
Juneteenth is a day worthy of being a national holiday ----- but as regards it "being co-opted and corrupted", well, that's already happened. It was inevitable.
This isn't a new observation, but politics and tribalism are at annoyingly high levels as regards our national "discourse."
When it comes to (1) MLK Day, (2) Memorial Day, (3) Juneteenth, (4) Independence Day, (5) Labor Day and (6) Veterans Day ------- the primary "discourse" on these days seems to be one group of people/politicans arguing that they are the ones who care most about (1) civil rights, (2) honoring our War Dead, (3) the legacy of slavery, (4) freedom and its role in American society, (5) the working class, and (6) our Veterans.
Thanksgiving is seemingly the only holiday we all truly agree on. Giving gratitude, eating food and watching football.
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1of12MattDamons
June 19th, 2023 at 1:01 PM ^
As a blasian I say get tf over yourself. Lol holy crap dude.
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MaizeBlueA2
June 19th, 2023 at 2:54 PM ^
Not virtue signaling at all, I appreciate your thoughtful post.
I'm also someone who doesn't quite know what to do with "HAPPY" on Juneteenth.
But then again, I say Happy Thanksgiving (or even Happy Memorial Day), and when you stop and think about it...ehh, it's probably the same lane.
We, Americans, probably should've found another word to use other than "Happy" before non-Birthday holidays and New Year's Day, but I suppose past any point of a return. We got Merry with Christmas, then we got lazy.
Nevertheless, I hear you.
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TheCube
June 19th, 2023 at 4:32 PM ^
Yeah I mean nothing like celebrating Juneteenth in the same month in which the SCOTUS will strike down affirmative action.
Woo definitely doing right by the Black Americans that helped shape this nation!
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WindyCityBlue
June 19th, 2023 at 10:40 AM ^
This is a long overdue federal holiday. I’m happy to celebrate it today
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dragonchild
June 19th, 2023 at 10:42 AM ^
I have the day off from work, so happy to celebrate it like I do all holidays these days. . . catching up on shit I haven't had time for, because of work.
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B-Nut-GoBlue
June 19th, 2023 at 10:44 AM ^
Hospital certainly isn't calling it a holiday so I'm working but I do relish how this holiday has come around and reached mainstream society and can be, ermmm, celebrated. Celebrated like Memorial Day. It should be a day of introspection and mourning and cherishing moments with loved ones.
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Dennis
June 19th, 2023 at 10:56 AM ^
Here's a short video that shares the history of the Juneteenth holiday. https://youtu.be/lq8TNKZVEWs
Stop contorting yourself about how you should celebrate and if you're "doing it the right way." Just learn our shared history, eat some red velvet cake, hang with your family, and stfu.
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Hanlon's Razor
June 19th, 2023 at 11:31 AM ^
Thanks, that video is loaded with good information.
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Wally Llama
June 19th, 2023 at 1:13 PM ^
Nice video link, old woman. 😉
Much better than the, "It's Juneteenth, Charlie Brown" video I had imagined....
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BoCanHam15
June 19th, 2023 at 10:56 AM ^
Great post.
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Hanlon's Razor
June 19th, 2023 at 11:09 AM ^
Thank you.
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willirwin1778
June 19th, 2023 at 10:59 AM ^
No more "new" holidays please. I have my reasons. Mostly trying to not be late Roman over here.
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Hanlon's Razor
June 19th, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
I don't understand the reference to being "late Roman." But I enjoy adhering to "when in Rome...", as it involves cultural celebrations.
When living in Hawaii, I loved joining in celebrating Prince Kuhio day and King Kamehameha day. Sympathetic joy, baby!
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SalvatoreQuattro
June 19th, 2023 at 11:54 AM ^
I don’t either.
Romans had a slave society too which makes his reference a bit…uh, odd.
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willirwin1778
June 19th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^
Half the Roman year was spent on holiday. Nobody worked. The civilization collapsed. That is a bit simplistic, but their "holidays" are often used a metric to explain one of the significant contributing factors to their demise.
It isn't a racist comment. More of my own internal concern with having too many holidays. I feel like historians have documented this pretty well.
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Shop Smart Sho…
June 19th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
Who are you reading that is placing the blame on Roman holidays for the demise of the, I assume, Western empire?
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4th phase
June 19th, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
I feel like maybe he read an 18th century history like Gibbon or something. Pretty sure historians today consider that to be a vast over simplification.
also there’s something ironic about someone against a holiday celebrating the end of slavery by arguing that no actually we all need to be working more and get less time off.
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willirwin1778
June 19th, 2023 at 3:34 PM ^
If we are overworked its basically a hamster wheel.
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LDNfan
June 19th, 2023 at 3:27 PM ^
Americans are generally overworked...so don't worry.
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Seth
June 19th, 2023 at 7:41 PM ^
If you're talking about the Roman Republic, then no, it broke down over the inability to deal with the massive expansion of its borders, the wealth iniquity that generated, the amount of power that wealth was able to exert in politics, the replacement of much of the labor force with slaves that meant most of the Romans themselves were sinking into poverty, and the amount of political violence the people who represented the wealth were willing to use against the Romans themselves until the people started empowering dictators. But the Roman Empire continued for centuries after.
If you're talking about the Crisis of the 3rd Century, then maybe for a little bit but I think you're misunderstanding the problem of overindulging a small segment of people in the capitol, because the problem wasn't the indulgence, it was the wanton corruption of Praetorian Guards buying a fake legitimacy for themselves at the same time they had a military system that wasn't beholden to the government, meaning any troop could raise their general to emperor and decide to, you know, break away Britain and France for a few generations. And anyway the Diocletian Reforms allowed the Roman Empire to continue for centuries after.
If you're talking about the Western Roman Empire, then no, it broke down over the inability to deal with pressures on its borders using its ad hoc system of creating a military class with little connection to the capitol and the same time there was a breakdown in the performance of civic duties of the diminishing landholding class who were in the process of turning into something closer to medieval knights with castles and serfs than Roman aristocrats with patrons, creating a cycle of civil wars that made the empire too brittle and too hateful of outsiders to deal with the problems they created for themselves with border "barbarians." But the far more populous and important Eastern Roman Empire continued for centuries after.
If you're talking about the Byzantine Empire, then it was the Turks.
I don't know who's telling you Rome fell because they had too many holidays but they probably should not be listened to about, well, anything. The vast consensus among centuries of Roman historians is the Roman Empire went through many iterations, with periods of stability after massive reforms and long periods of instability when it seemed like the whole thing would break down and somehow only broke down in certain ways or parts.
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Sopwith
June 19th, 2023 at 8:53 PM ^
Maybe he meant Roman Roy? I have no idea.
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willirwin1778
June 19th, 2023 at 10:02 PM ^
Ok, you got me, it wasn't too many holiday festivals.
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WeimyWoodson
June 19th, 2023 at 11:15 AM ^
Well it was first celebrated in 1866, so what do you mean “new holiday”. Do you mean something that white people are hearing more about?
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Thorin
June 19th, 2023 at 2:38 PM ^
Is there a newer federal holiday?
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njvictor
June 19th, 2023 at 11:53 AM ^
Always funny when someone is so upset by the reasoning behind a holiday that they complain about another day off
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TeslaRedVictorBlue
June 19th, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
Its a secret reason! You won't believe what his reason are.. Click here to find out what he said next!
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L'Carpetron Do…
June 19th, 2023 at 12:14 PM ^
I'll make you a deal - since this one seems legitimately worth celebrating, how about we trade out one of the holidays that are not quite as meaningful? Columbus Day or Presidents' Day? Take your pick.
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Clarence Boddicker
June 19th, 2023 at 12:37 PM ^
Yes. I too hope to avoid the dictatorship of various and sundry warlord emperors and frequent (if justifiable) invasions by Goths.
But, actually, NO. I love Juneteenth and hate this post.
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S.G. Rice
June 19th, 2023 at 11:18 AM ^
This is a holiday that everyone can celebrate. Is anyone opposed to the end of slavery? Pretty sure the answer is no. At least it should be.
That said, there will undoubtedly be battles over how it is celebrated. But there is no reason to have any kind of purity test, it's a freaking holiday. Let your freak flag fly if you want.
I'm celebrating by working, just like most holidays. Doh.
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MichiganFootball1313
June 19th, 2023 at 1:00 PM ^
China
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 1:19 PM ^
Every corporation that is looking to turn a profit would gladly accept slavery.
There are a shit ton of slaves in the world today.
And to be honest Juneteenth is a fucking joke. Black folks are still not treated the same as white folks in the country and it's never ever going to change. Some holiday doesn't change that.
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Clarence Beeks
June 19th, 2023 at 2:01 PM ^
“Every corporation that is looking to turn a profit would gladly accept slavery.”
This is unequivocally false.
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
If you say so....
Apparently you don't pay a whole lot of attention to what's happening in the world.
I work for a major food manufacturer. We received an email a couple of months ago that it had been discovered that we had been getting something (I don't remember what it was exactly, some kind of fruit) from Africa and slave labor was used to pick the fruit or whatever it was.
Slave labor exists and it is freely used. Hell it exists in our country still. It's perfectly fine to make people convicted of a crime to work for the huge corporations from inside prison walls for pennies on the dollar. You can use Google to figure out which company those are.
But please tell me how I'm wrong
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Booted Blue in PA
June 19th, 2023 at 2:57 PM ^
My corporation is calling bullshit.
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 6:29 PM ^
I don't know who you work for nor do I care.
History has shown time and time that people will do horrible things to turn a profit.
Your company is no better.
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SalvatoreQuattro
June 19th, 2023 at 6:33 PM ^
History shows that people will do horrific things regardless if there is a profit motive or not.
War, genocide, slavery, and colonialism didn’t start with the advent of capitalism.
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 6:43 PM ^
They also did not end with the advent of capitalism.
I'm too lazy to use Google at the moment but I'm about 95% sure that there are more slaves in the world now than there has ever been.
Hell Chiquita Banana used to be the United Fruit Company and we should all know what they did to Central America
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SalvatoreQuattro
June 19th, 2023 at 6:49 PM ^
Because there are far more people today. Global population didn’t hit 1 billion until 1800.
The Roman Empire was a slave society. It was heavily dependent upon slaves. Many other peoples before, during, and after the Romans enslaved large amounts of people especially Muslims. The Prophet Mohammed owned slaves for example.
Look at what the Soviets did in the Baltics, Ukraine, and Poland. Look at what China did to their own people. Regardless of economic brutality on a vast scale exists. Yet we argue about fucking systems blaming them for the crimes we have been committing for many thousands of years.
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 6:54 PM ^
I'm not trying to single out the USA. I'm perfectly aware that slavery has existed since the dawn of time and a lot of civilizations throughout history have used slaves.
The USA was supposed to be better. It's not.
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tsunami42080
June 19th, 2023 at 8:15 PM ^
I'm confused by what you mean that the USA is supposed to be better. Are you saying the US was supposed to be better in that it should have been the first civilization to abolish slavery?
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 8:28 PM ^
Apparently you've never read the preamble of the Declaration of Independence.
Go read that. Then maybe look at what the Statue of Liberty says.
Then go back throughout history and look how the United States has treated anyone who wasn't white.
Obviously I can't interpret what the founding fathers exact thoughts were. And of course many were in fact slave owners themselves. But it seems that if we take the words on the paper at face value we should have been better.
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pescadero
June 20th, 2023 at 8:26 AM ^
Capitalism ain't the only system that involves "profit".
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Hanlon's Razor
June 19th, 2023 at 3:13 PM ^
I think you could have said that there are some companies who turn a blind eye to slave/child labor and it would have been both more accurate and better received.
To your initial post, don't let perfection be the enemy of the good. We are celebrating A STEP towards greater/global liberty, which we all likely agree is very much needed.
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Booted Blue in PA
June 19th, 2023 at 4:15 PM ^
if you're going to call out corporations, you probably better include the superstars that take $$ to promote them as well.....
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 5:24 PM ^
I don't have to call out anybody but trust me I have no problem doing it.
Thanks dad
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WindyCityBlue
June 19th, 2023 at 3:04 PM ^
Every corporation?
Never going to change?
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 5:23 PM ^
Sorry wannabe Elon.
I forgot that you're the capitalist who will do things right fap fap fap
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WindyCityBlue
June 19th, 2023 at 6:04 PM ^
What?! I have no want or desire to be the next Elon Musk. I've never said that as such ever, so I don't know where you got that from.
Lastly, using absolute language like "every" or "never" in the context of your post is very off-base and opens yourself up for counter-argument. You could have said "I believe there are some corporations that are looking to turn a profit would gladly accept slavery" I would definitely agree to that.
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Darker Blue
June 19th, 2023 at 6:22 PM ^
I'm no wordsmith....
You chose to argue semantics which says a lot more about you than it does I.
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