Happy Juneteenth, Everyone: The Most Miserable National Holiday In U.S. History
Let's give it up for all the American children of slaves still moving the culture forward!
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I'd like to start this day by wishing everyone whose ancestors were American slaves a Happy Juneteenth... for as long as this remains a national holiday, anyway. Who knows what the president will do next!
To everyone out there who does not know anything about Juneteenth, here's a wham-bam version of the story I was told.
President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the Black slaves and messed up how the South was making money to ruin their war plans.
The U.S. Civil War ended in 1865 when Gen. Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant of the Union, and was probably mind-numbingly drunk when it happened.
The United States became a country with free Black slaves who couldn't vote for another 80 years.
It took two entire years for this information to reach the slaves being held in Galveston, Texas. They were working the entire time. We all know that information traveled more slowly in those days, but Texas was Texas about it and refused to let my people go.
The free Black men and free Black women created their own holiday called "Juneteenth" and had a big cookout that white people were not invited to.
When this made the "National Holiday" list, I felt kind of weird about it. Like now that "everyone" could celebrate, many people would do so without knowing why this is an important day for the earliest prisoners of the United States. Chattel slavery existed long before the United States did, which makes this ancestral form of slavery the original sin of this country. The fact that the planned reparations for this century of misery never materialized makes that weird feeling even more poignant.
Despite that, let's all do our best to enjoy Juneteenth today. Let's also educate our white peers on why this holiday is important and the reasonable ways to celebrate it. Don't pretend this is your holiday, white people, because it isn't. That's just a fact.
So if you get invited to a cookout today, listen, learn, and have fun without taking over the party or bringing up your problems. It might be hard to hear, but Juneteenth is not about you. It's about celebrating despite the crimes of your ancestors. You aren't being asked to feel bad for something you weren't alive for, but bonus points if you do!
Have a Happy Juneteenth, everybody!
If I got any of this information wrong, please let me know. I'll make changes if I need to.