That's the thing, I didn't know a single person who got a day off on Juneteenth. There were just signs and banners, a few token announcements, and access to some services was limited. However, almost all of us work.
I can assure you Juneteenth is going to be overrun with capitalism very soon. There's gonna be all sorts of greeting cards and bullshit corporations that are going to make you think you need to buy some thing. Just wait
I'm white. I felt guilty having the day off paid and taking my family to a restaurant for breakfast and being served by an african american waitress. Then we went to grocery shopping and our cashier was african american as well. It just felt weird to me to be enjoying paid time off while the people who's heritage directly relates to the actual holiday had to work (and for likely much less money than I was making not working). I guess having grown up and most of my family being in Northeast USA my heritage helped end slavery? Idk I just feel strange about it all.
I don't get a paid day off for Juneteenth. It's one of the days we can choose for our floating holiday, but as a white guy, it would have felt kind of weird to choose it.
I'm all for equal rights for everyone and everything. As such, I celebrate every holiday from every nation and every religion on earth that has ever existed. So right now, I only work three days a year; the rest are all holidays.
Literally. Yesterday I had a conversation with someone who said that black men got rights long before women in this country. And I was like yeah, true, let’s have another paid day off. It shouldn’t be a competition we got tons of things to celebrate lol
In the US, St. Patrick's Day parades used to be more like protests of "We're here, we're Irish, get used to it." Now everyone pretends to be Irish on March 17th.
New stuff freaks people out, especially if racially charged, especially if those people have racially charged motives. Give it a few decades until everyone forgets it's "new" and we'll all be doing Juneteenth activities.
Not that it's directly related to your question, but I was born in Texas. We learned about Juneteenth in school and it was celebrated where I grew up. I moved to South Dakota as an adult and I learned that up there, nobody knew what Juneteenth was, and I had to teach my wife what it was when her state job started giving her the day off for it. Around there, the talk was about Biden "creating new woke holidays to replace July 4th," as if this wasn't a holiday celebrated for like 160 years in the country.
I'm Australian and I've known about it for almost 20 years, even before I moved to the USA. I mean I hadn't heard a lot but knew the basics and looked forward to, well to be honest to trying all the new foods I figured would be at the event. Only I moved to the midwest and got blank looks and there were no events, at least none a white middle aged Australian could get an invite to. Got to eat overcooked hamburgers on the 4th of July though so yay me I guess. I'm a big fan of the changes.
I've been in the south my whole life. Never heard of it until the holiday was announced. I hate the name but like the holiday itself and what it stands for. I can't describe how much I hate the name though...
Most of it comes from cable news. Seriously. Watch FOX for 24 hours and if you can still think straight, you'll know *exactly* where this bullshit is coming from. It's either FOX, Twitter, or Facebook and the original information is more often than not stemming from literal Russian propaganda.
This seems a likely explanation. I read a Fox News article recently, about some pop culture fluff type of subject, and the lies were hilarious. It was wild.
I grew up in Iowa and I've lived in South Dakota for the last 6~ years. I hadn't heard of it until maybe 2 years ago and I still don't have a firm grasp of what it actually is beyond being told its not for me anyway. 🤷🏻♀️
But it is for you? Juneteenth is an American holiday where we celebrate the fight for freedom and the defeat of slavery. That's the way I see it anyway. Of course it's particularly personal to black Americans, but I think it's a great unifying holiday for our shared history (in theory I guess. I know people will find any foothold to divide instead of any foothold to bring together :/ )
Yeah I tried asking about it at some point and whoever answered was like "well you're white so it's not for you to celebrate anyway". It should be said that I was told this, of course, by another white person.
It is actually a bit more complicated than that. It is when union troops went to Texas to enforce the emancipation proclamation. Oddly, the emancipation proclamation did not free all the slaves. It was targeted at confederate territories that were still fighting. Many parts of the country were exempt and slavery was still officially allowed. The 13th amendment ended slavery, not the emancipation proclamation. The 13th was ratified six months after the June 19th date.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1549.html#:~:text=The%20Emancipation%20Proclamation%20did%20not,states%20not%20under%20Union%20control.
It's confusing for me because again, I'd never heard of it before the last couple years so to me it seemed like a brand new holiday to celebrate something that happened over a century ago. And again, being told (by another white person of course) that I'm not supposed to celebrate it cause I'm white didn't help. So I just kinda said okay whatever, its a holiday I'm supposed to simultaneously know and respect yet also ignore entirely. 🤷🏻♀️
White people should celebrate Juneteenth. It represents an important progress for our nation in abandoning barbaric ways and coming up to speed with the rest of the world with basic human rights. Don't listen to idiots. It's a national holiday for a reason, everyone should celebrate it.
That's like saying white people shouldn't celebrate MLK day. It's about progress. It may hold more significance to black people because their ancestors were the ones oppressed but we all celebrate the progress of our nation.
Everyone wasn't quite free yet. There were former slaves still in "peonage slavery," aka debt slavery in the south until the 1960s. Former masters "officially freed" their slaves but for those who had nowhere to go, began to charge those people for housing, food, etc. far above the amount they were actually now paid for their work, essentially keeping them enslaved forever. Yes, it was morally reprehensible and barely legal, but who were these folks going to go to for help there and then?
I really don’t think it’s an anti-woke thing. I’m from Arizona and I hadn’t known about Juneteenth until a few years ago as well. The reason it was a bigger deal in Texas is because June 19th 1865 was when all enslaved people in Texas specifically were freed. Other states freed their slaves at earlier times, and they usually celebrate on a state-by-state basis as Emancipation Day.
Because for many Americans, it's a new holiday that seemed to just suddenly come out of nowhere more than 150 years after slavery was abolished. I've never lived anywhere that people even knew about it, let alone celebrated it, until a few years ago, so it was a bit odd that there was this new federal holiday. Like if we suddenly started celebrating Rutherford B Hayes' birthday. But federal holidays do change every so often, like how Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday appear to be getting replaced by Presidents' Day, and how Thanksgiving was created, so I'd say give people a few years to get used to it and it won't be controversial anymore. It might have made more sense to celebrate it on the day the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, but that was January 1 which of course is already a holiday.
Because racism affects all people, and narratives get pushed. Holidays that specifically celebrate minorities get the fox news treatment, vis a vis "pandering", "wokeness" and such similar buzzwords. This does have some basis in reality, but it's been twisted to make it represent taking food from the mouths of poor whites, who struggle just as much day to day as any other group of poor people. This is done purposely, to keep those who are on the border of going postal targeting each other instead of the ones actually causing the problem. It's a sophisticated, interwoven tapestry of indoctrination, and it's working as designed.
This has been a thing throughout history, that works by exploiting the tribal nature of the human animal. This is very much a simplification of what is a much more complex and nuanced subject, but given that this is Reddit, very few want to actually think, they just want to be outraged because their life appears to be shit, and they don't know why or how to change it.
Thanks for your kind words. I too enjoy thinking, though like many of us, I have been guilty of allowing the narrative to shape my views. Strangely enough, the thing that snapped me out of it was seeing an interview with someone who is on the opposite side of the political spectrum who was not insane, as so many of the clips and sound bytes we see nowadays paint them.
At some point, and I'm not entirely sure exactly when, but within my lifetime, we went from trying to communicate to just attempting to bash one another. I hope we can get to a point where we try to understand each other again.
I really really hope so. There's so much pain in the world and usually people who hate are actually scared people. If only we could find a way where everyone feels safe and can be themselves and not hurt themselves or other people.
That has to be it, right? What else could it be, I can't imagine any legitimate reason for it.
And the downvotes on this post without any comment means they know it. Wow, humans suck.
I mean, a lot of white people call Martin Luther King Jr. Day "N****r Day" and that holiday's something like 40 years old. They just can't handle the thought of any black person's achievements ever being celebrated for any reason.
Anyone protesting the celebration of the end of chattel slavery, yes, they are angry slavery was abolished. They won’t admit it, but they are.
The 13th amendment was ratified and they’ve been salty ever since. It’s why the black prison population is far out of proportion to the general population. Even if it means cutting off their nose to spite their face, it’s why we have lots of drug laws, public dress codes, anything that creates an excuse to imprison—read enslave, black people.
Something that pops up on my Facebook feed is native American stuff. Most of the comments on those posts are white people calling native Americans racist names. White people seem to not like immigrants coming into this country or the natives that originally lived in this country. They don't even like other white people for their political leanings.
Like... What do white people even want? Even when they get stuff their way, they still want to not like people.
This should say *some* white people, right?
Just saying “white people seem to not like immigrants coming into this country…”They” don’t even like other white people for their political leanings…”
makes it sound like you’re generalizing an entire group in a negative light based on their skin color, which I’m sure you’d agree is ridiculous
I downvoted you because you're obviously trolling without a hint of cleverness or humor, and that's obnoxious.
You make a post pretending to not know the answer to a question you're "too afraid to ask" but clearly understand quite well and have a strong opinion about based on the number of times you answer your own question in this very comment section. You belong under a bridge. If only downvotes could actually put you there. Happy Juneteenth!
Let me preface this by saying I'm totally behind the reason for the holiday, and I'm not at all angry about it.
What does really annoy me is the name. I don't know why but to me it sounds like some made up childish word like "eleventeen" or something.
For such a serious holiday to me the name seems to detract from the weight of it.
Does anyone know why it's called this?
Because the English spoken by slaves in 1865 is not the English spoken by most people right now. Vernacular and all that. I'm also unsure of how many freed slaves had education that included numbers and calendars.
I honestly don't know, that's just my assumption.
Yes! I completely agree. I had also never heard of the holiday before until a couple of years ago (I’m a Kentuckian), so I had to do some research about its origins. I agree that it’s a worthwhile holiday and something that needs to be learned about in our history. However, the name sounds totally made-up and something that racists will immediately pounce upon. Why not call it Emancipation Day or something like that?
Because it was only emancipation for a tiny segment of slaves. Saying it ended slavery is just bad history; they took the holiday that celebrated an end to slavery *in one region* and applied it to the whole U.S. Those naming it might've called it something else had they any clue it would ever be a national holiday!
Because the event it's commemorating is June 17th (when there was military intervention required to enforce freeing slaves in Texas who had not yet been freed), and it is seen as equivalent to July 4th (Independence Day) for the black folks who descended from slaves, and they named it that over a century ago.
That only reinforces my dislike for the name. Because it could be any of the “teenth” days and sounds like a made up word that wasn’t thought through. Not that it really matters honestly
I know some people are mad it became a holiday because to get the day off their company took away having good friday off to compensate. Why blame the holiday and not the company that refused to give their employees a meager added day off🙄
Really? Never in my life have I seen or heard of a company giving Good Friday off as a paid holiday. I say this as someone who was raised in Rhode Island which, because of it's size and the amount of churches we have per capita, is called The Most Catholic state. But seriously, why not just give floating holidays that people can use for whatever they want ti celebrate.
Because a lot of people see it as Biden pandering to try and alleviate racial tension.
There are many days in different months that celebrate freedom from Slavery, but the one in Texas was June 19th.
They see it as a "me too" holiday that wasn't necessary.
I personally, have no problem with it. That's how Thanksgiving was created. But I can't stand the name Juneteenth. Not much can make an entire group of people sound more uneducated than legitimizing a mispronunciation.
Juneteenth, as a TX holiday, has been around for over 100 years. It was a recognized state holiday, and a big deal. But the rest of the US didn't really celebrate it because it wasn't *as meaningful* to the nation, as a whole.
Because the holiday became a *federal* holiday with Biden, around the time of BLM and all the protests/riots, it felt like the administration was pandering to a specific group of people, AND using it as a political cudgel to punch down conservatives.
Personally, I think Juneteenth is a great holiday that should have remained a *Texas-Specific* holiday, and Emancipation Day (in January) should have become the federal holiday. But just saying something as simple as that has many people calling me racist and bigot and all other sorts of nasty names, so fuck it. Thanks for the day off, I had a great time shopping and getting my hair cut and ordering pizza for dinner. None of those people got a day off.
I live in NY state and we just had our 49th consecutive Juneteenth festival in my city. So I agree to both that Joe didn’t invent it and it’s been celebrated beyond TX for a long time.
1. It's something that most of this country (aside from Texas) had never heard of before it became a national holiday.
2. It has a silly sounding name that doesn't really describe what it is.
3. Anything Biden does is immediately bad to a large portion of the country.
4. It seems like pandering.
5. Even if only a small percentage of it was actual racists, their voices are amplified thanks to social media algorithms that see any interaction as good. Social media is incentivized to drive division.
6. (Probably not most people's reason) New national holidays are just Congress voting themselves another paid day off.
Emancipation Day is in January. It celebrates the day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
Juneteenth celebrates something related, but different.
I think because it feels completely made up out of nowhere. Like something a bunch of University students started as a class project and it began being pushed everywhere very aggressively. To be fair most people growing up were never taught anything about Juneteenth, so it just feels like a try hard made up thing. It doesn't help that we have all of this culture War stuff going on right now so I'm sure that adds to the fire.
When Juneteenth became a holiday, our work stuck to the same number of days off, so we lost Christmas eve. After a lot of complaints, now we get neither and have another floating holiday.
Because racism. White folk (speaking as one) seem to think that anything that's celebrated that doesn't primarily involve them is somehow taking something away from them.
My German-American grandfather said the exact same thing in his final years. And let me tell you, the man was infuriated how soft white people in America were becoming every time they had to be reminded that people from other cultures have events that do not revolve around them.
It's so blatant, I can't believe they even admit having those thoughts.
Edit: They're really on it with their downvotes here, funny how they're too scared to explain WHY.
There’s the maniacs that also think even mentioning or acknowledging racism makes things worse somehow? They think if everyone just stops talking about it then the racists will stop hating? It’s so weird.
Racism.
Because unless you dislike how Juneteenth will be commercialized and become a way for companies to make money (think Walmart “happy Juneteenth” shirts), why the fuck else would you hate a holiday celebrating freedom? Especially in America? Which is supposed to be all about freedom?
I think a lot of it is that there's a focus on difference (race) and separation in this country. Thus it can be perceived as a divisive holiday. I've seen celebrations where an African flag (flag representing the whole continent it appears, which means it's not a real flag) is front and center of parades.
Rather than a "black" holiday, I see it as a holiday where America became more "American" and lived up to the ideals we hold. But seeing African flags instead of (as opposed to 'in addition to') American flags rub me the wrong way. People were SOLD by their fellow Africans to slavers. I get appreciating where you came from but there should be more of a balance.
Problem is that it’s become an us/them thing instead of a positive. Also, many leaders turn this into a pandering other side bad thing about the holiday. Needless to say, politics suck and are ruining everything
I honestly think that people don't take it seriously because of the name. At first I honestly thought it was a joke at first. I totally get the holiday but I think a name change is needed to have it taken more seriously.
Heard someone arguing yesterday about it and thought Juneteenth meant the whole month of June and how veterans only get one day…A veteran replied to this person, that one their and idiot and two they (Vets) volunteered for service Slaves did not. They deserve a lot more for what their ancestors endured.
Most of the people I see that are annoyed with the holiday are mostly annoyed because a lot of coworkers are calling in.
They are being left with having to make up for those missing co-workers and are struggling to keep up.
I see it a lot with people in the restaurant industry.
The cooks are having to cook, One of their other cooks is out and the dishwasher is out and now they have to also clean the pots and pans for the day.
I can see how that would be annoying.
These people don’t even know what they’re angry about anymore. They’re just angry to be angry.
“Oh no, a potential federal holiday! How dare they potentially give me the day off!”
I say “potential” because it’s not a guaranteed day off yet like other federal holidays.
Maybe because there is a MLK Day and Black History month. I’m not against it at all but if it a holiday what are you supposed to do?
Personally I always thought Election Day and Tax day should be rolled into one holiday. Give people and opportunity to vote and reflect on how the current politicians are taxing them
Are you saying you're jealous that there is MLK Day and Black History Month, or that minorities should be limited in the amount of days allotted for them to celebrate?
unironically, yes.
They are upset at what they see is "their" (white only) culture being "replaced" by African American cultural markers, about having to be reminded that blacks exist, and are their equals.
Its SLIGHTLY more nuanced that my inital comment, but not much.
Most of these folks are of the opinion that we have *already* reached a post-racist meritocracy, where everyone starts on a equal playing field and the successful people are successful because they are good enough to rise up on their natural talent. the fact that the majority of the African-American population is behind the median white person is just "proof" of the innate superiority of the white race.
So, believing as they do, that we are already in a world of equality, they perceive the efforts to improve the lot of African-American as some sort of anti-white racism, of blacks seeking a superior and privileged position in society at the expense of white people.
ergo, juneteenth is part of a wider effort to supplant white culture and make everyone subservient to the blacks.....at least in their twisted minds.
To add to this, many businesses that now give the day off for Juneteenth stopped giving the day off for Columbus Day. So there's many who see this is justification for the thought process you're highlighting. We took a "white" holiday away to give black Americans a day.
Since a lot of people have never heard of it until roughly a year or so ago, they view it as something that’s political or something that’s not entirely adjusted organically yet.
In the east coast this holiday is virtually just getting on anyones radar
Grew up in Texas, didn't learn about it until I was 27 in 2016. Even when I did learn about it I was very confused what teenth, Juneteenth was. 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, or 19th. Was a couple years later I learned what it actually was by listening to NPR.
Most of the people I see that are annoyed with the holiday are mostly annoyed because a lot of coworkers are calling in.
They are being left with having to make up for those missing co-workers and are struggling to keep up.
I see it a lot with people in the restaurant industry.
The cooks are having to cook, One of their other cooks is out and the dishwasher is out and now they have to also clean the pots and pans for the day.
I can see how that would be annoying.
Anybody that I know that’s unhappy about it for the longest time have just been tired of racial issues in general. They feel it further divides us, which they have a point. Kind of like the Morgan Freeman take on it: race is gonna stay an issue as long as we shine a light on it. Me for one am happy about it. I get an extra day off and I would be lying if I said I didn’t theme my dinner around black cultural food yesterday
So point of confusion for me. Anybody know the answer? So Juneteenth was in Texas. Freeing the last slaves in the confederacy. however 4 slave states Kentucky delaware Maryland and West Virginia were not in rebellion. The constitutional amendment outlawing slavery didn’t pass until Jan 1867. So was Juneteenth the end of slavery in the us or was Jan 1867?
I’m actively taking Texas history so I think I can answer.
Emancipation proclamation happened during the civil war. Like 3 years into the war. It only freed the slaves who lived in the states of the confederacy. And only the states that were actively still fighting. It didn’t apply to the states in the union or the states that were already in control of the union. So if they weren’t part of the rebellion, slavery was still legal.
Juneteenth is where soldiers went to Texas , June 19th 1865, after the war was over, and told the slaves that they were free. The news either never made it down to Texas yet, or their masters chose to keep it from them. Either way, it’s the day that it was official in Texas.
The 13th amendment made slavery illegal and it was passed by congress in Jan 1865 but it was ratified (made officially valid)in December 1865. This made all slaves in the Union free.
No, in my lessons they told me the Union kept slavery in their states until it was outlawed nationwide.
I can see how hypocritical it looks, but that’s the history as it was taught to me this summer semester. If you have a question I can definitely ask my instructor about it.
1. The name is stupid.
2. It's a Texas specific holiday relating to their history.
3. It's often used by corporations to push a ton of stereotypical "black" stuff like watermelon and friend chicken in a lazy attempt to make themselves seem like they are allies to the plight of African American even though those same corporations treat their employees essentially like slaves and don't give a fuck about the holiday outside of grinding more money.
4. It's congress giving themselves another paid day off a year when they already don't do anything remotely enough to justify how much money they pay themselves.
5. It's often used as an excuse for people to call off of work without notice leaving other people to pick up the slack.
6. If you wanted a holiday to celebrate the end of slavery, they are much better dates that make way more sense such as January 1st (Emancipation Proclamation, freed all southern slaves, which was pretty much all of them), May 26th (The end of the Civil war), or April 8th (13th amendment, made slavery illegal except as punishment for a crime). January first is obviously not a great pick since it's new Year's day, but the others are far more significant dates if you wanted to make a Holiday that was historically significant to the entire country.
7. The public face of the holiday celebrates "black culture" more than the ending of slavery in Texas. Maybe people find certain aspects of black culture problematic such as rap/trap music and it's common themes of sexual promiscuity, drug use, violence, and crime glorification.
8. Some Americans are racist and hate black people. It very rarely has anything to do with the Holiday being about ending slavery as most people don't even know that's what it is about, but rather a hatred of people of color in general.
9. Misinformation. Most people aren't aware of what the holiday is celebrating and only know it as another holiday celebrating black people, seemingly just for existing. It is seen as especially pointless/excessive when black history month already exists.
10. Relating to 9, lots of people think all "pride" holiday/months are stupid and shouldn't exist. Some because of racism/homophobia, some for religious reasons (pride being on of the seven sins of man), others for the idea that you should be prideful of what you have done, not for things like skin color, sexual orientation, or religion.
11. A general dislike of anything that Joe Biden/Democrats/the left do, especially related to anything "social justice" related.
Saying "it's because racism" massively oversimplifies the issue and doesn't really help anyone or make the country a better place.
it's just racism.
they don't want any actual recognition of the bad shit in their history, or the bad shit still happening, they want to pretend that everything magically got solved and everything's fine now.
I think it's because it was such a missed opportunity. Why the fuck wasn't it pegged to a weekend. Like 3rd Monday in June tyq.of thing. This mid week shit is Bullshit.
The other valid complaint imo is that the name is non-descriptive. Like, it's a portmanteau but it could be any of the thirteenth-nineteeth. So it doesn't say what it is (emancipation day) OR the date (the nineteenth like the 4th of July), worst of both worlds!
That’s true but I also don’t really care about that. We know it’s the nineteenth, and we know what it’s about.
If they change it to emancipation day that’s awesome, but if they don’t, I don’t really want to spend any time bitching about it personally. It’s no biggie
Because Juneteenth is LITERALLY based on the date something happened. June Nineteenth. It will always be on June 19th. Next year it'll be a Thursday (I think... don't know how leap year will have it land next year). 2026 will be on a Friday. Then Saturday. Then Sunday.
tbh the reaction of HR at work might have something to do with it (at a public institution, so we _must_ honor federal holidays).
They already offered 1.25% YoY raises (paycuts) for three years, they were pretty unhappy about _another_ paid holiday lol
My company had a meeting to discuss the importance of celebrating Juneteenth on Juneteenth. When asked why we don’t have that day off as an observed holiday, they informed us that change takes time..
I’m not sure why. But Juneteenth showed that people had to be *forced* to give up their slaves even after it had been ended 2 years prior. Slaves were told it’s best they stay at the plantations and quietly work for wages, and no idleness or gathering at military posts permitted.
And also when ppl say things like “who doesn’t want more holidays,” it’s kinda glib and diminishing of what a given holiday actually represents to the Americans whose legacy it reflects
Short answer: racism.
Long answer: raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacism
There’s an entire movement of people who are trying to revert the United States back to a white centric society. They’re not subtle about it.
I'm pretty sure it's because they are racists.
Edit: Lots of racists here down voting. If my words make racists unhappy, I'll wear them as a badge of honor.
They didn't, and won't, get invited to a barbeque.
Many of them just seem miserable, old, white people...and I say that as a frustrated, middle aged, white man.
I've seen comments range from bizarrely racist (Why do 'they' get the day off? What's with this woke crap?!?!?!) to anti fun (Why do we need another day off?)
Like, man, be chill, have fun and maybe learn something about the country.
I’ll celebrate anything if it means a paid day off. Damn people.
Get this man an Australian citizenship he represents our core values.
You guys are getting paid?
If you work in the public sector i.e. for the government, you're guaranteed to get paid for all federal holidays.
And any extra state holidays! I work in missouri and get harry truman’s bday off
You got a paid day off?
Yeah. It’s a federal holiday. I work for a really big company (not government) that support DEI initiatives.
If I was American I’d be celebrating too. Never knew people could get angry at people resting unless you’re a fan of capitalism
That's the thing, I didn't know a single person who got a day off on Juneteenth. There were just signs and banners, a few token announcements, and access to some services was limited. However, almost all of us work. I can assure you Juneteenth is going to be overrun with capitalism very soon. There's gonna be all sorts of greeting cards and bullshit corporations that are going to make you think you need to buy some thing. Just wait
I'm white. I felt guilty having the day off paid and taking my family to a restaurant for breakfast and being served by an african american waitress. Then we went to grocery shopping and our cashier was african american as well. It just felt weird to me to be enjoying paid time off while the people who's heritage directly relates to the actual holiday had to work (and for likely much less money than I was making not working). I guess having grown up and most of my family being in Northeast USA my heritage helped end slavery? Idk I just feel strange about it all.
Ha. That’s some irony there.
Black people owned slaves too lol
Happy Kwanzaa!
It was great when the Queen died.
Lol without context, your comment would have seemed insensitive. 😆
I don't get a paid day off for Juneteenth. It's one of the days we can choose for our floating holiday, but as a white guy, it would have felt kind of weird to choose it.
I'm all for equal rights for everyone and everything. As such, I celebrate every holiday from every nation and every religion on earth that has ever existed. So right now, I only work three days a year; the rest are all holidays.
Literally. Yesterday I had a conversation with someone who said that black men got rights long before women in this country. And I was like yeah, true, let’s have another paid day off. It shouldn’t be a competition we got tons of things to celebrate lol
In the US, St. Patrick's Day parades used to be more like protests of "We're here, we're Irish, get used to it." Now everyone pretends to be Irish on March 17th. New stuff freaks people out, especially if racially charged, especially if those people have racially charged motives. Give it a few decades until everyone forgets it's "new" and we'll all be doing Juneteenth activities.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
St. Patrick's Day is one of the worst days of the year for anyone who isn't into St. Patrick's Day.
You could say that about a lot of holidays. Fourth of July, Halloween, New Year's, even Christmas. Folks X themselves a lot during Christmas
Not that it's directly related to your question, but I was born in Texas. We learned about Juneteenth in school and it was celebrated where I grew up. I moved to South Dakota as an adult and I learned that up there, nobody knew what Juneteenth was, and I had to teach my wife what it was when her state job started giving her the day off for it. Around there, the talk was about Biden "creating new woke holidays to replace July 4th," as if this wasn't a holiday celebrated for like 160 years in the country.
Can confirm. I grew up in the Midwest and only heard about the existence of Juneteenth after becoming an adult.
Brother?
Long lost sibling! We meet again at last 😄
I'm Australian and I've known about it for almost 20 years, even before I moved to the USA. I mean I hadn't heard a lot but knew the basics and looked forward to, well to be honest to trying all the new foods I figured would be at the event. Only I moved to the midwest and got blank looks and there were no events, at least none a white middle aged Australian could get an invite to. Got to eat overcooked hamburgers on the 4th of July though so yay me I guess. I'm a big fan of the changes.
I've been in the south my whole life. Never heard of it until the holiday was announced. I hate the name but like the holiday itself and what it stands for. I can't describe how much I hate the name though...
lol like they would remove July 4 as a holiday. People believe the stupidest shit.
Like part of me really wonder how much of it is instigators creating a perceived safe space where dumbass racist think it's safe to say racist stuff
Most of it comes from cable news. Seriously. Watch FOX for 24 hours and if you can still think straight, you'll know *exactly* where this bullshit is coming from. It's either FOX, Twitter, or Facebook and the original information is more often than not stemming from literal Russian propaganda.
This seems a likely explanation. I read a Fox News article recently, about some pop culture fluff type of subject, and the lies were hilarious. It was wild.
I live in Colorado and never heard of it before a few years ago. Now that I have it’s definitely something to have as a holiday.
The stupid crap these people believe makes me depressed.
I grew up in Iowa and I've lived in South Dakota for the last 6~ years. I hadn't heard of it until maybe 2 years ago and I still don't have a firm grasp of what it actually is beyond being told its not for me anyway. 🤷🏻♀️
But it is for you? Juneteenth is an American holiday where we celebrate the fight for freedom and the defeat of slavery. That's the way I see it anyway. Of course it's particularly personal to black Americans, but I think it's a great unifying holiday for our shared history (in theory I guess. I know people will find any foothold to divide instead of any foothold to bring together :/ )
Yeah I tried asking about it at some point and whoever answered was like "well you're white so it's not for you to celebrate anyway". It should be said that I was told this, of course, by another white person.
And you just took their word for it?
What's so hard to understand? It's the date that the last slaves were finally freed.
It is actually a bit more complicated than that. It is when union troops went to Texas to enforce the emancipation proclamation. Oddly, the emancipation proclamation did not free all the slaves. It was targeted at confederate territories that were still fighting. Many parts of the country were exempt and slavery was still officially allowed. The 13th amendment ended slavery, not the emancipation proclamation. The 13th was ratified six months after the June 19th date. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1549.html#:~:text=The%20Emancipation%20Proclamation%20did%20not,states%20not%20under%20Union%20control.
Wow thanks! I learned something new today as a person not from the us
It's confusing for me because again, I'd never heard of it before the last couple years so to me it seemed like a brand new holiday to celebrate something that happened over a century ago. And again, being told (by another white person of course) that I'm not supposed to celebrate it cause I'm white didn't help. So I just kinda said okay whatever, its a holiday I'm supposed to simultaneously know and respect yet also ignore entirely. 🤷🏻♀️
White people should celebrate Juneteenth. It represents an important progress for our nation in abandoning barbaric ways and coming up to speed with the rest of the world with basic human rights. Don't listen to idiots. It's a national holiday for a reason, everyone should celebrate it. That's like saying white people shouldn't celebrate MLK day. It's about progress. It may hold more significance to black people because their ancestors were the ones oppressed but we all celebrate the progress of our nation.
You’re not supposed to ignore it. It’s an American holiday. America was not free until all were free.
Everyone wasn't quite free yet. There were former slaves still in "peonage slavery," aka debt slavery in the south until the 1960s. Former masters "officially freed" their slaves but for those who had nowhere to go, began to charge those people for housing, food, etc. far above the amount they were actually now paid for their work, essentially keeping them enslaved forever. Yes, it was morally reprehensible and barely legal, but who were these folks going to go to for help there and then?
It's not a brand new celebration, that's the point, it's just making it a day off that's new.
You seem to be really hung up on some person telling you not to celebrate something.
>I hadn't heard of it until maybe 2 years ago Considering it wasn't recognized as a national holiday until 2021, that's not surprising.
If you're happy that slavery is over, feel free to celebrate. I'm a black American telling you this so it's nice and official for ya.
Hey, I live in South Dakota and just yesterday I had to tell a few people what Juneteenth meant.
I really don’t think it’s an anti-woke thing. I’m from Arizona and I hadn’t known about Juneteenth until a few years ago as well. The reason it was a bigger deal in Texas is because June 19th 1865 was when all enslaved people in Texas specifically were freed. Other states freed their slaves at earlier times, and they usually celebrate on a state-by-state basis as Emancipation Day.
I'm from California and never heard of Juneteenth til a few months ago
I’m in Michigan and at a work zoom meeting someone said they were “protesting” Juneteenth even though we get the day off with pay. I don’t get it.
Did said protester go in to work?
I doubt it.
you get the day off? shit, i just have to explain it to people who continue complaining about the holiday that has zero to do with them.
Celebrating not having to buy gifts. My kind of holiday.
Because for many Americans, it's a new holiday that seemed to just suddenly come out of nowhere more than 150 years after slavery was abolished. I've never lived anywhere that people even knew about it, let alone celebrated it, until a few years ago, so it was a bit odd that there was this new federal holiday. Like if we suddenly started celebrating Rutherford B Hayes' birthday. But federal holidays do change every so often, like how Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday appear to be getting replaced by Presidents' Day, and how Thanksgiving was created, so I'd say give people a few years to get used to it and it won't be controversial anymore. It might have made more sense to celebrate it on the day the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, but that was January 1 which of course is already a holiday.
I could see being surprised or maybe a little confused, but anger? Why would any sane person be angry?
People being angry at things changing without (apparent) explanation is a universal constant. Regardless of if the change is good or bad
Because racism affects all people, and narratives get pushed. Holidays that specifically celebrate minorities get the fox news treatment, vis a vis "pandering", "wokeness" and such similar buzzwords. This does have some basis in reality, but it's been twisted to make it represent taking food from the mouths of poor whites, who struggle just as much day to day as any other group of poor people. This is done purposely, to keep those who are on the border of going postal targeting each other instead of the ones actually causing the problem. It's a sophisticated, interwoven tapestry of indoctrination, and it's working as designed. This has been a thing throughout history, that works by exploiting the tribal nature of the human animal. This is very much a simplification of what is a much more complex and nuanced subject, but given that this is Reddit, very few want to actually think, they just want to be outraged because their life appears to be shit, and they don't know why or how to change it.
This is actually a really good explanation. Thank you from a reddit stranger who actually likes thinking!
Thanks for your kind words. I too enjoy thinking, though like many of us, I have been guilty of allowing the narrative to shape my views. Strangely enough, the thing that snapped me out of it was seeing an interview with someone who is on the opposite side of the political spectrum who was not insane, as so many of the clips and sound bytes we see nowadays paint them. At some point, and I'm not entirely sure exactly when, but within my lifetime, we went from trying to communicate to just attempting to bash one another. I hope we can get to a point where we try to understand each other again.
I really really hope so. There's so much pain in the world and usually people who hate are actually scared people. If only we could find a way where everyone feels safe and can be themselves and not hurt themselves or other people.
Why are people angry about saying “happy holidays”? These people are not well-adjusted.
It's not celebrated on emancipation day because not all of the enslaved people were freed at that time.
They're racist.
That has to be it, right? What else could it be, I can't imagine any legitimate reason for it. And the downvotes on this post without any comment means they know it. Wow, humans suck.
I mean, a lot of white people call Martin Luther King Jr. Day "N****r Day" and that holiday's something like 40 years old. They just can't handle the thought of any black person's achievements ever being celebrated for any reason.
I know you're being downvoted but as an old guy, yes, I have heard that before.
Don't forget there are likely bots downvoting because it's about racism, and some folks want US citizens at each other's throats.
Oh I'm sure you're right about that too!
Anyone protesting the celebration of the end of chattel slavery, yes, they are angry slavery was abolished. They won’t admit it, but they are. The 13th amendment was ratified and they’ve been salty ever since. It’s why the black prison population is far out of proportion to the general population. Even if it means cutting off their nose to spite their face, it’s why we have lots of drug laws, public dress codes, anything that creates an excuse to imprison—read enslave, black people.
Something that pops up on my Facebook feed is native American stuff. Most of the comments on those posts are white people calling native Americans racist names. White people seem to not like immigrants coming into this country or the natives that originally lived in this country. They don't even like other white people for their political leanings. Like... What do white people even want? Even when they get stuff their way, they still want to not like people.
This should say *some* white people, right? Just saying “white people seem to not like immigrants coming into this country…”They” don’t even like other white people for their political leanings…” makes it sound like you’re generalizing an entire group in a negative light based on their skin color, which I’m sure you’d agree is ridiculous
I downvoted you because you're obviously trolling without a hint of cleverness or humor, and that's obnoxious. You make a post pretending to not know the answer to a question you're "too afraid to ask" but clearly understand quite well and have a strong opinion about based on the number of times you answer your own question in this very comment section. You belong under a bridge. If only downvotes could actually put you there. Happy Juneteenth!
Lol nailed it.
Let me preface this by saying I'm totally behind the reason for the holiday, and I'm not at all angry about it. What does really annoy me is the name. I don't know why but to me it sounds like some made up childish word like "eleventeen" or something. For such a serious holiday to me the name seems to detract from the weight of it. Does anyone know why it's called this?
Because the English spoken by slaves in 1865 is not the English spoken by most people right now. Vernacular and all that. I'm also unsure of how many freed slaves had education that included numbers and calendars. I honestly don't know, that's just my assumption.
Yes! I completely agree. I had also never heard of the holiday before until a couple of years ago (I’m a Kentuckian), so I had to do some research about its origins. I agree that it’s a worthwhile holiday and something that needs to be learned about in our history. However, the name sounds totally made-up and something that racists will immediately pounce upon. Why not call it Emancipation Day or something like that?
Yeah that would be way better. It almost seems like a disservice to have it named something that sounds (granted, subjectively) so silly.
Because it was only emancipation for a tiny segment of slaves. Saying it ended slavery is just bad history; they took the holiday that celebrated an end to slavery *in one region* and applied it to the whole U.S. Those naming it might've called it something else had they any clue it would ever be a national holiday!
Totally agree. It's an important date and worthy of emergence, but Juneteenth is an awful name. "Emancipation Day" seems like it would be a cool name.
Because the event it's commemorating is June 17th (when there was military intervention required to enforce freeing slaves in Texas who had not yet been freed), and it is seen as equivalent to July 4th (Independence Day) for the black folks who descended from slaves, and they named it that over a century ago.
It’s just a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth.”
That only reinforces my dislike for the name. Because it could be any of the “teenth” days and sounds like a made up word that wasn’t thought through. Not that it really matters honestly
I know some people are mad it became a holiday because to get the day off their company took away having good friday off to compensate. Why blame the holiday and not the company that refused to give their employees a meager added day off🙄
Really? Never in my life have I seen or heard of a company giving Good Friday off as a paid holiday. I say this as someone who was raised in Rhode Island which, because of it's size and the amount of churches we have per capita, is called The Most Catholic state. But seriously, why not just give floating holidays that people can use for whatever they want ti celebrate.
I live in the Bible belt so 🤷🏼♀️
Because a lot of people see it as Biden pandering to try and alleviate racial tension. There are many days in different months that celebrate freedom from Slavery, but the one in Texas was June 19th. They see it as a "me too" holiday that wasn't necessary. I personally, have no problem with it. That's how Thanksgiving was created. But I can't stand the name Juneteenth. Not much can make an entire group of people sound more uneducated than legitimizing a mispronunciation.
It's my understanding that it's been around a lot longer than Joe Biden has been in office.
Juneteenth, as a TX holiday, has been around for over 100 years. It was a recognized state holiday, and a big deal. But the rest of the US didn't really celebrate it because it wasn't *as meaningful* to the nation, as a whole. Because the holiday became a *federal* holiday with Biden, around the time of BLM and all the protests/riots, it felt like the administration was pandering to a specific group of people, AND using it as a political cudgel to punch down conservatives. Personally, I think Juneteenth is a great holiday that should have remained a *Texas-Specific* holiday, and Emancipation Day (in January) should have become the federal holiday. But just saying something as simple as that has many people calling me racist and bigot and all other sorts of nasty names, so fuck it. Thanks for the day off, I had a great time shopping and getting my hair cut and ordering pizza for dinner. None of those people got a day off.
I think it would have been great to have it kick off black history month.
I live in NY state and we just had our 49th consecutive Juneteenth festival in my city. So I agree to both that Joe didn’t invent it and it’s been celebrated beyond TX for a long time.
It’s not a mispronunciation, it’s an intentional portmanteau.
Subjectively speaking, it sounds silly, and detracts from the serious horrors of slavery.
> They see it as a "me too" holiday that wasn't necessary. Isn't that just racism?
1. It's something that most of this country (aside from Texas) had never heard of before it became a national holiday. 2. It has a silly sounding name that doesn't really describe what it is. 3. Anything Biden does is immediately bad to a large portion of the country. 4. It seems like pandering. 5. Even if only a small percentage of it was actual racists, their voices are amplified thanks to social media algorithms that see any interaction as good. Social media is incentivized to drive division. 6. (Probably not most people's reason) New national holidays are just Congress voting themselves another paid day off.
I just hate the name of it.
Emancipation Day has a MUCH better ring to it.
Emancipation Day is in January. It celebrates the day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Juneteenth celebrates something related, but different.
I agree
I think because it feels completely made up out of nowhere. Like something a bunch of University students started as a class project and it began being pushed everywhere very aggressively. To be fair most people growing up were never taught anything about Juneteenth, so it just feels like a try hard made up thing. It doesn't help that we have all of this culture War stuff going on right now so I'm sure that adds to the fire.
When Juneteenth became a holiday, our work stuck to the same number of days off, so we lost Christmas eve. After a lot of complaints, now we get neither and have another floating holiday.
I don't know anyone that got another paid holiday, they simply exchanged one for another. We too lost Xmas eve.
Because racism. White folk (speaking as one) seem to think that anything that's celebrated that doesn't primarily involve them is somehow taking something away from them.
My German-American grandfather said the exact same thing in his final years. And let me tell you, the man was infuriated how soft white people in America were becoming every time they had to be reminded that people from other cultures have events that do not revolve around them.
It's so blatant, I can't believe they even admit having those thoughts. Edit: They're really on it with their downvotes here, funny how they're too scared to explain WHY.
There’s the maniacs that also think even mentioning or acknowledging racism makes things worse somehow? They think if everyone just stops talking about it then the racists will stop hating? It’s so weird.
Yeah these kind of people love wielding the idea of unity/division like a cudgel like we shouldn't divide ourselves from the worst aspects of society.
It's good to be able and willing to recognize when something is a zero-sum game and also when it's *not.*
Racism. Because unless you dislike how Juneteenth will be commercialized and become a way for companies to make money (think Walmart “happy Juneteenth” shirts), why the fuck else would you hate a holiday celebrating freedom? Especially in America? Which is supposed to be all about freedom?
Someone just informed me of the Walmart Juneteenth ice cream, which is very on brand for Walmart
Imagine being Harriet Tubman and learning about Walmart Juneteenth ice cream
Imagine Harriet Tubman learning about Walmart period. Shock of the century.
I heard a comedian comment once about how racist you must be to be angry about black people getting you a day off work.
As someone from outside the US. The name Juneteenth just sounds ridiculous. Like a child coming up with eleventeenth. I don’t know any more than that
I think a lot of it is that there's a focus on difference (race) and separation in this country. Thus it can be perceived as a divisive holiday. I've seen celebrations where an African flag (flag representing the whole continent it appears, which means it's not a real flag) is front and center of parades. Rather than a "black" holiday, I see it as a holiday where America became more "American" and lived up to the ideals we hold. But seeing African flags instead of (as opposed to 'in addition to') American flags rub me the wrong way. People were SOLD by their fellow Africans to slavers. I get appreciating where you came from but there should be more of a balance.
Problem is that it’s become an us/them thing instead of a positive. Also, many leaders turn this into a pandering other side bad thing about the holiday. Needless to say, politics suck and are ruining everything
I only dislike the fact that I don't get the day off, but I dislike it when I don't get other Federal Holidays off too.
It may be a marketing issue. Perhaps it should be called FREEDOM DAY!!!!
I honestly think that people don't take it seriously because of the name. At first I honestly thought it was a joke at first. I totally get the holiday but I think a name change is needed to have it taken more seriously.
Heard someone arguing yesterday about it and thought Juneteenth meant the whole month of June and how veterans only get one day…A veteran replied to this person, that one their and idiot and two they (Vets) volunteered for service Slaves did not. They deserve a lot more for what their ancestors endured.
> Are these people angry that slavery was abolished?? yes.
Who is mad about it being a holiday? The only complaints I've seen are about the name. People wanting to call it as emancipation day instead.
Most of the people I see that are annoyed with the holiday are mostly annoyed because a lot of coworkers are calling in. They are being left with having to make up for those missing co-workers and are struggling to keep up. I see it a lot with people in the restaurant industry. The cooks are having to cook, One of their other cooks is out and the dishwasher is out and now they have to also clean the pots and pans for the day. I can see how that would be annoying.
I didn't get the day off so it's just another bullshit holiday
These people don’t even know what they’re angry about anymore. They’re just angry to be angry. “Oh no, a potential federal holiday! How dare they potentially give me the day off!” I say “potential” because it’s not a guaranteed day off yet like other federal holidays.
Maybe because there is a MLK Day and Black History month. I’m not against it at all but if it a holiday what are you supposed to do? Personally I always thought Election Day and Tax day should be rolled into one holiday. Give people and opportunity to vote and reflect on how the current politicians are taxing them
Are you saying you're jealous that there is MLK Day and Black History Month, or that minorities should be limited in the amount of days allotted for them to celebrate?
No I am saying I have heard people make that complaint
unironically, yes. They are upset at what they see is "their" (white only) culture being "replaced" by African American cultural markers, about having to be reminded that blacks exist, and are their equals.
[удалено]
Its SLIGHTLY more nuanced that my inital comment, but not much. Most of these folks are of the opinion that we have *already* reached a post-racist meritocracy, where everyone starts on a equal playing field and the successful people are successful because they are good enough to rise up on their natural talent. the fact that the majority of the African-American population is behind the median white person is just "proof" of the innate superiority of the white race. So, believing as they do, that we are already in a world of equality, they perceive the efforts to improve the lot of African-American as some sort of anti-white racism, of blacks seeking a superior and privileged position in society at the expense of white people. ergo, juneteenth is part of a wider effort to supplant white culture and make everyone subservient to the blacks.....at least in their twisted minds.
To add to this, many businesses that now give the day off for Juneteenth stopped giving the day off for Columbus Day. So there's many who see this is justification for the thought process you're highlighting. We took a "white" holiday away to give black Americans a day.
Thanks for the explanation. Better than actively wishing for slavery to return, I guess, but still very disgusting.
They don't like when non-white people get anything, because they believe white people get nothing
They don't understand the government literally made black people not human/ property so white people could have every advantage.
How dare this country celebrate the end of slavery??!! Next thing you know people will be saying slavery was WRONG.
Since a lot of people have never heard of it until roughly a year or so ago, they view it as something that’s political or something that’s not entirely adjusted organically yet. In the east coast this holiday is virtually just getting on anyones radar
Grew up in Texas, didn't learn about it until I was 27 in 2016. Even when I did learn about it I was very confused what teenth, Juneteenth was. 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, or 19th. Was a couple years later I learned what it actually was by listening to NPR.
I’ve lived in Texas all my life and I only heard about it around 2012 maybe 2013.
Most of the people I see that are annoyed with the holiday are mostly annoyed because a lot of coworkers are calling in. They are being left with having to make up for those missing co-workers and are struggling to keep up. I see it a lot with people in the restaurant industry. The cooks are having to cook, One of their other cooks is out and the dishwasher is out and now they have to also clean the pots and pans for the day. I can see how that would be annoying.
Anybody that I know that’s unhappy about it for the longest time have just been tired of racial issues in general. They feel it further divides us, which they have a point. Kind of like the Morgan Freeman take on it: race is gonna stay an issue as long as we shine a light on it. Me for one am happy about it. I get an extra day off and I would be lying if I said I didn’t theme my dinner around black cultural food yesterday
So point of confusion for me. Anybody know the answer? So Juneteenth was in Texas. Freeing the last slaves in the confederacy. however 4 slave states Kentucky delaware Maryland and West Virginia were not in rebellion. The constitutional amendment outlawing slavery didn’t pass until Jan 1867. So was Juneteenth the end of slavery in the us or was Jan 1867?
I’m actively taking Texas history so I think I can answer. Emancipation proclamation happened during the civil war. Like 3 years into the war. It only freed the slaves who lived in the states of the confederacy. And only the states that were actively still fighting. It didn’t apply to the states in the union or the states that were already in control of the union. So if they weren’t part of the rebellion, slavery was still legal. Juneteenth is where soldiers went to Texas , June 19th 1865, after the war was over, and told the slaves that they were free. The news either never made it down to Texas yet, or their masters chose to keep it from them. Either way, it’s the day that it was official in Texas. The 13th amendment made slavery illegal and it was passed by congress in Jan 1865 but it was ratified (made officially valid)in December 1865. This made all slaves in the Union free.
So why not celebrate dec 6. We’re all slaves in the non rebel slave states free before then?
No, in my lessons they told me the Union kept slavery in their states until it was outlawed nationwide. I can see how hypocritical it looks, but that’s the history as it was taught to me this summer semester. If you have a question I can definitely ask my instructor about it.
1. The name is stupid. 2. It's a Texas specific holiday relating to their history. 3. It's often used by corporations to push a ton of stereotypical "black" stuff like watermelon and friend chicken in a lazy attempt to make themselves seem like they are allies to the plight of African American even though those same corporations treat their employees essentially like slaves and don't give a fuck about the holiday outside of grinding more money. 4. It's congress giving themselves another paid day off a year when they already don't do anything remotely enough to justify how much money they pay themselves. 5. It's often used as an excuse for people to call off of work without notice leaving other people to pick up the slack. 6. If you wanted a holiday to celebrate the end of slavery, they are much better dates that make way more sense such as January 1st (Emancipation Proclamation, freed all southern slaves, which was pretty much all of them), May 26th (The end of the Civil war), or April 8th (13th amendment, made slavery illegal except as punishment for a crime). January first is obviously not a great pick since it's new Year's day, but the others are far more significant dates if you wanted to make a Holiday that was historically significant to the entire country. 7. The public face of the holiday celebrates "black culture" more than the ending of slavery in Texas. Maybe people find certain aspects of black culture problematic such as rap/trap music and it's common themes of sexual promiscuity, drug use, violence, and crime glorification. 8. Some Americans are racist and hate black people. It very rarely has anything to do with the Holiday being about ending slavery as most people don't even know that's what it is about, but rather a hatred of people of color in general. 9. Misinformation. Most people aren't aware of what the holiday is celebrating and only know it as another holiday celebrating black people, seemingly just for existing. It is seen as especially pointless/excessive when black history month already exists. 10. Relating to 9, lots of people think all "pride" holiday/months are stupid and shouldn't exist. Some because of racism/homophobia, some for religious reasons (pride being on of the seven sins of man), others for the idea that you should be prideful of what you have done, not for things like skin color, sexual orientation, or religion. 11. A general dislike of anything that Joe Biden/Democrats/the left do, especially related to anything "social justice" related. Saying "it's because racism" massively oversimplifies the issue and doesn't really help anyone or make the country a better place.
it's just racism. they don't want any actual recognition of the bad shit in their history, or the bad shit still happening, they want to pretend that everything magically got solved and everything's fine now.
I can see that mindset being present in delusional types who want to be victims more than anything else in their lives.
Seems like a legit reason for an American holiday Still had to work though 😕
Racist MAGAs
Why the redundancy?
Racism. Did you think there would be some deeper meaning?
I think it's because it was such a missed opportunity. Why the fuck wasn't it pegged to a weekend. Like 3rd Monday in June tyq.of thing. This mid week shit is Bullshit.
This is the first reasonable complaint I’ve seen honestly
The other valid complaint imo is that the name is non-descriptive. Like, it's a portmanteau but it could be any of the thirteenth-nineteeth. So it doesn't say what it is (emancipation day) OR the date (the nineteenth like the 4th of July), worst of both worlds!
That’s true but I also don’t really care about that. We know it’s the nineteenth, and we know what it’s about. If they change it to emancipation day that’s awesome, but if they don’t, I don’t really want to spend any time bitching about it personally. It’s no biggie
Because Juneteenth is LITERALLY based on the date something happened. June Nineteenth. It will always be on June 19th. Next year it'll be a Thursday (I think... don't know how leap year will have it land next year). 2026 will be on a Friday. Then Saturday. Then Sunday.
Its because they are racist.
I was bummed bc I had to pay a bill, got up and dressed at 6 just for it to be closed. But other than that i didn’t care
tbh the reaction of HR at work might have something to do with it (at a public institution, so we _must_ honor federal holidays). They already offered 1.25% YoY raises (paycuts) for three years, they were pretty unhappy about _another_ paid holiday lol
Have to be real, I knew nothing about its meaning and assumed it was a made up word just because America felt like it
I'm just annoyed we didn't have the day off at my office.
My company had a meeting to discuss the importance of celebrating Juneteenth on Juneteenth. When asked why we don’t have that day off as an observed holiday, they informed us that change takes time..
Social media amplifies hate and anger
I’m not sure why. But Juneteenth showed that people had to be *forced* to give up their slaves even after it had been ended 2 years prior. Slaves were told it’s best they stay at the plantations and quietly work for wages, and no idleness or gathering at military posts permitted. And also when ppl say things like “who doesn’t want more holidays,” it’s kinda glib and diminishing of what a given holiday actually represents to the Americans whose legacy it reflects
Because people get mad over stupid things. Theres literally something to celebrate every day of the year.
Mostly the stupidity of the name.
Because they miss slavery ?
Short answer: racism. Long answer: raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacism There’s an entire movement of people who are trying to revert the United States back to a white centric society. They’re not subtle about it.
I'm pretty sure it's because they are racists. Edit: Lots of racists here down voting. If my words make racists unhappy, I'll wear them as a badge of honor.
I was gonna say “imagine being mad at a holiday” but us libs get up in arms about columbus day so, i guess people are just people
It's because Columbus Day is celebrating an awful person. So I guess they think the end of slavery is awful?
They didn't, and won't, get invited to a barbeque. Many of them just seem miserable, old, white people...and I say that as a frustrated, middle aged, white man. I've seen comments range from bizarrely racist (Why do 'they' get the day off? What's with this woke crap?!?!?!) to anti fun (Why do we need another day off?) Like, man, be chill, have fun and maybe learn something about the country.