Happy Juneteenth!!! What does it mean to you?
 

Not having being born in this country, I'm curious about what this means to members and what if anything they are doing to commemorate the day beyond it being a federal holiday.

Or, if it is so new, then perhaps there hasn't been enough time for traditions to form. It probably doesn't help that it is not a holiday for all.

June
 

Nothing.

Holiday for public sector workers

As a retired, Christian, woman, I hope this holiday becomes known as Freedom Day. Different than the 4th of July which celebrates our nation freeing ourselves from British rule, Juneteenth celebrates the rights of every individual.

To celebrate, I took a few moments and counted my many blessings. As a woman, I am treated exactly as a man, as an elder I am allowed to retire and enjoy the rest of my years as I see fit, and as a Christian, I am allowed to practice my religion openly. In many countries, the people are not as fortunate.

Yes, the official holiday commemorates the freeing of black slaves. But, because we became a nation that truly believes in freedom for all, women eventually fought for their rights, children were no longer forced to work, a generation of Americans fought world wars to stop those who believed in racial superiority, a black woman refused to give up her seat, a black man had a dream, gays became proud, and so many more fought and continue to fight for individual freedom. No man, woman, or child should be stripped of these basic, "inalienable" rights.

Same. Nothing.

At least I won’t lose money in the stock market today.

Sorry do not think this should be a federal holiday. To me this was pandering.

another day off for some.

I told my kids to get a gov job. Tons of vacation, sick leave and any excuse holidays paid for by the taxpayers.

Unnecessary
 

I agree with you Stu.

For me personally, nothing. For black Americans whose ancestors were slaves in this country, it means a lot. It means - that two and a half years AFTER the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, two months AFTER the end of the Civil War, the slaves in Texas were finally informed that they were free citizens.

Juneteenth as a day of celebration isn't a new thing. But it's mostly been held in Texas, where the actual event occurred. From 1866 til the 1920's it was mostly a local thing. it became more commercialized in the 1920's and 1930's. By 1979, every state and territory of the USA has had some official recognition of the day.

That's a pretty big deal. I didn't know about it until a few years ago. I'm glad I know about it now. It's gives a greater understanding of the lives and cultural backgrounds of my fellow human beings.

I am of German/Irish/Scotch/English and some other ancestry. When we came to America varies. The German side came around 1870 and the English/Scotch/Irish earlier for some and much earlier for others. Like 1650 for the Stimson tree.

All of these have suffered in some way or another through wars, illness, prejudice, stupidity and greed.

But some groups other than mine have endured unfathomable evil like those from many parts of Africa and Asia. And especially those people who are here first.

The African slave trade was profitable for many who targeted other humans as commodities to be owned. And some of these people defending that trade were native Africans. This often involved tribal warfare and enslaving conquered groups for profits. That has been happening for as long as man started living in large groups.

Do think this Federal Holiday will help some people to come to a deeper understanding of history especially about that of the slave trade.


The Woman King tells a very good story about the slave trade and people caught up in it.

I’m glad someone had the right answer. Thank You

Rosewood is a very good movie to celebrate this June 19. It is about an African American town here in Florida which was wiped out due to hate, stupidity, fear of change, and many other things.

It means I gotta wait until tomorrow to take care of of couple things I was gonna do today because many businesses are closed.

"Many" businesses are not closed. "Most" businesses will be open. Banks are closed, there's no mail delivery today, post offices are closed. Perhaps a few black-owned small retail stores or restaurants might be closed but other than that - everything is open around here.

A better idea is to teach our kids more about American history including the good and the bad to get a better idea of how much we have advanced as a nation.

You need to get away from Parady.

Unfortunately, I’m currently at our home up north in Massachusetts where just about everything is closed. At least the YMCA is open, so I can go swimming. As a federal holiday there won’t be any golf today, crowed courses with weekend/holiday rates and no generous weekday senior citizen discounts. When I worked I lived for weekends and holidays, now I can’t wait for weekdays.

Wouldn't the history of blacks in America be, by definition, American history? Focusing only on the "bad" would paint the wrong picture but so would focusing only on the "good."

I took a course in Minorities in American Society at the University of Nevada, Reno and recall sitting next to a man from the Ivory Coast who was royalty according to him and the Professor. He might have been pulling my leg but he had made some of the most racist comments I have heard about the African Americans whose ancestors had come here while his ancestors ruled in some capacity. They probably stayed in power by aligning with the slave traders.

On another note, for this class, I did a presentation on my grandfather's fight to keep his land on Cape Cod. His ownership was being challenged in court by the Wampanoag who were asserting they still were a tribe under US laws and had a claim to this land. Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe - Wikipedia

I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and only knew of a couple of black kids. Most of the kids I knew were either Anglo or Nuevomexicanos, kids having hispanic ancestry going back to Spain. Their ancestors had originally settled in New Mexico, not Mexico or other latin country.

Anyway, one black kid was named Willy. I met Willy at the downtown YMCA where I was learning to swim. Willy showed up with a different bike every day until he was arrested for stealing bikes. The other was a girl in my large high school I never met. Thus I had no real knowledge of American black culture.

Then in 1965 I ended up at Ft. Jackson in South Carolina for US Army basic training followed by playing in the post band. Most of the RAs in the band were blacks and I was put in the RA barracks although I was in the Maryland National Guard as the NG barracks was full to capacity. It was an interesting experience to say the least. When June rolled around the blacks became excited in a joyful way. They were celebrating Juneteenth I was told after I asked why they were suddenly so happy. When I asked what it was about I was told that was the day Lincoln freed the slaves. Not exactly correct but close enough. Hearing that I could certainly understand their high spirits.

As to whether Juneteenth should be a taxpayer funded holiday for Federal, State and Civic civil servants, bankers and postal workers I would have to vote no.

10 Must Watch Slavery Movies - Best Movies Right Now

There are lots of movies out there about the slave trade and slavery.

Rosewood - Rotten Tomatoes

We have been teaching our kids less and less about American history which is incredibly foolish.

Teach ALL of our history good and bad including black history as well as we became a melting pot having people from all over the world come here.

BTW did you notice that I said good and bad? How else do people learn how we came to be.

Well said. There is certainly a lot of great history out there to learn from.

The Great Courses has lot of material on US history. The Great Courses

The Great Courses African American History: From Emancipation through Jim Crow

The Great Courses
America's Long Struggle against Slavery

Yes, I meant 2020.

Why should schools teach "Black History"? History should be color blind.

Agree! Learning and Federal Holidays should not be one-sided. Since Juneteenth is now a federal holiday all races, beliefs, religions, minorities, what have you should be included.
.
It doesn't seem right to celebrate the freedom of only one race. The real truth is that every race has been forced into slavery at one time or another. Unfortunately, it is still happening today - sex trafficking, forced child labor, menial wages no man can live on, etc.

If you are going to declare Juneteenth a federal holiday don't leave anyone out! Who is to say one man's suffering is greater than another?

Well, I suppose there are worse things to celebrate than freedom, but I see this "Juneteenth" holiday as just another manifestation of the divisiveness that is plaguing America. Bear in mind that Juneteenth is the ONLY federal holiday that is limited to one particular ethnicity.

Of course, we can celebrate along with them over the fact that they are no longer held in bondage--but then why not include (say) the Chinese, whose suffering particularly on America's West Coast from the mid-19th Century to the early 20th was in many respects equal to, and in many cases, exceeding that of the African-American ethnicity in this country. Slaves represented an outlay of capital--in many cases a substantial one--but for many of the Chinese their "employers" paid nothing to the workers, paying instead a daily pittance to the procurers who brought them over here, many against their will, to serve essentially as slaves to people who had no interesting in protecting an investment at all, resulting in human abuse that in many cases exceeded that of the Black slaves in the antebellum South. Or how about the Irish, who were literally untermenschen in many parts of america long before 1930s Germany ever popularized the concept. Or how about the mentally handicapped, who before our "enlightened" time in America were all too often treated about the same as cattle; rounded up and institutionalized where very often they were forced to work for the profit of those who were essentially nothing more than slavemasters, and whose treatment very often was barbaric: I know of cases where such people, if too vocal for their masters' taste, had their vocal chords torn out, and where "corrective discipline" if they were lucky was to be sprayed with ice-cold water from hoses, but which was all too often a straight jacket and a totally dark room for hours--sometimes days. Or how about society's rejects; the orphaned children of the poor and and the penniless, when the idea of "treatment" was to be institutionalized behind high fences and stone walls and put into the care of "house parents" (there were other terms too) who very often drove them like cattle, forcing them to work for whatever reason, and where death was often just termed "failure to thrive" but what was later discovered to be just the lack of positive human contact--just a hug or two, that was in all too many cases not forthcoming even when they were dying. Don't believe me? Then google Minnesota State School - Owatonna, where I used to live. It used to be Minneota's orphanage, but it is a museum now, and one of the "exhibits" is the children's cemetery where row upon row of little white crosses bear witness to those kids who were just not strong enough to survive the cruelty and the oppression.

Sure. Let's celebrate freedom. But don't continue to divide America by doing it.

What it means to me is that it is a great day for all the bigots to get irritated.

How is it that we disagree with something and all you can say is we are bigots. So if you disagree with something I write will it be ok to call you a bigot or worse?

I believe everyone is included, is invited to celebrate, and gets the day off regardless of race, religion, or beliefs.

I agree with this but unless I'm mistaken, doing this gets you painted with the "woke" brush.

Of course not! That would make you a racist! :p

History wasn't color blind; color had a lot to do with historical events.

Now, if you mean that history should be taught without singling out any particular color, race, nationality, etc, I agree with that. The concern is that it isn't being taught that way. I don't know if that's true. I remember learning about black historical figures as well as white.

I remember learning about positive events as well as negative events. I am sure that there is more history about blacks in America that I could have learned but I am also sure that there is more history about whites (or Asians or Irish or Canadians) in America that I could have learned. I haven't attended a grade-school history class in a very long time so all I know is what I hear on the news and I've learned be skeptical of that.

If you have followed the posts on this site, I am sure you have your answer.

You came to the wrong state for this.

Movies are the worst possible source to look for actual, factual history or other information. They are produced primarily to make money. The actual history is embellished and even misportrayed in order to generate high emotions for both entertainment and propaganda purposes.

Hmm.... I'm not convinced movies are worse than online forums.

History should absolutely -not- be color blind. It should be inclusive, not exclusive. Atrocities were committed on a variety of peoples throughout history, American, European, World - of all races, all Nationalities, all religions, all ethnicities, all genders, disabilities, abilities, sexual preferences, marital status, lack of marital status. We need to accept these histories, learn OF them, and learn FROM them.

Otherwise it'll just continue to happen. Maybe black folks will be the "target du jour" again once we're done with the transgender trend. Or maybe all those anti-abortion nuts will start targeting women who don't have children, and start a brand new tirade a la Handmaid's Tale, berating them for not marrying and whelping the next generation. Or maybe they'll come back to the Jews. Or maybe it'll be the Irish again. Or the Italians again. Or maybe old people again.

Round and round it goes, where it stops, everyone knows. As long as we say "let's not talk about that, it is unpleasant and hey look how great we are now!" we will continue the cycle.

If the teaching of history was color blind, we would not have learned about Rosa Parks. She is known BECAUSE she was a black activist. If she were a white activist, she wouldn't have become the tipping point of the Civil Rights Movement. If Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't black, he wouldn't have been nearly as influential as he became - and probably wouldn't have been assassinated.

Many things have happened in this country -because- this or that person, group of people, church, school, child, was black.

How do you think the Civil War would've gone, if the slaves were all white Irish instead of black African?