Trump's Fumble On Juneteenth Leads To New Nationally Recognized Holiday
Juneteenth represents when slavery was officially abolished in the United States. While the Emancipation Proclamation ordered to end slavery in 1863, it took two years before slaves in Texas were free on June 19, 1865. Across the country, Americans, specifically the black community, hold week-long celebrations to honor “freedom”. “Juneteenth isn’t just a celebration… especially in times like this, it is a reminder of how far we’ve come, but also how much work we have to do to become truly free", tweeted @juliaforboston.
Recently, United States President, Donald Trump decided that despite the pandemic he would hold a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on the weekend of Juneteenth. Why is this a problem? “Did they really not know what Juneteenth was? I don’t believe it. You couldn’t get all the way to scheduling a rally without someone pointing it out. No, this was deliberate signaling. What really surprised them was the backlash. They were trying to do a Reagan, signaling support for racists with a campaign event- but America has changed”, tweeted @paulkrugman.
Historically, Tulsa is known for having one of America’s worst race riots, known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. This particular race riot was an attack on Tulsa’s predominately black Greenwood neighborhood, killing hundreds of black people, leaving thousands of people homeless, and destroying black businesses. The Tulsa Massacre also destroyed Black Wall Street, which was the wealthiest black community in America in 1921.
Prior to Trump’s decision to hold his rally in Tulsa during Juneteenth weekend, Juneteenth was not common knowledge to most Americans. Although bringing light to Juneteenth probably was not Trump’s intention, his ignorance granted a lot of people a free history lesson.
Now that more people are aware of Juneteenth’s significance, cities and even some states are taking steps towards recognizing Juneteenth as a paid-holiday.
Photo Credits:
Tulsa Massacre photo- History.com
Woman with flag: Chicagotribune.com
Report: Brionna Thompson
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