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[nbcnews.com]

While 47 states celebrate Juneteenth Day, Senators Booker and Kamala Harris introduce a bill to make it a federal holiday. Agree/Disagree????

sassygirl3869 9 June 19
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37 comments

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1

I’ve celebrated Juneteenth for years, and would love to see federal recognition.

10

I agree 100% but I think the bill also needs to include - election day as a paid federal holiday

9

It's a good idea, but secondary to making Election Day a paid holiday.

TO_BY Level 7 June 19, 2020

oops I should have read the comments before posting my comment - I may have said the same thing 😀

7

It's OK with me. I would also like to get rid of Columbus Day.

Yeah, what with Vikings, Chinese & god knows who else having first "discovered" the new world AND Chris C never making it to the mainland, I can do without Columbus Day. But add Juneteenth!

I really like this idea!

7

Agree. It should be a holiday. Slavery was a shameful thing, and its end should be celebrated. 🙂

6

You mean celebrate one of the few times the Federal Government correctly used its power to do the right thing and enforce the law that the South was disobeying and protected the rights of its citizen?

Yes, having a federal holiday celebrating Juneteenth actually makes sense. There is a connection, a bond, a trust created between the Federal Government and the people who were treated a slaves. Celebrating that can only strengthen that bond, and remind the federal government of its obligation.

5

Given the historosity of Juneteenth plus the fact that we were not taught of it's existence, I think it's appropriate to celebrate several million people being brought out of slavery. WASP's have sterilized written history in this country and that needs to be corrected. If there can be a day for the butcher Columbus, surely Juneteenth could replace it.

5

It sends a strong message!

4

Agree

4

Agree wholeheartedly.

3

I agree. We should remember the past, so we don't repeat it in the future.

3

I think having Election Day as a holiday is not needed in today’s world. Most states have early voting. Extending it to all states as well as mail in voting would make having one day set aside for voting obsolete.
Yes Juneteenth or the date of the Emancipation Proclamation should be a holiday.

3

What is the reason for the celebration?

It was the date that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce that the war had ended and the slaves were free two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Texas was part of the Confederacy, but not many battles occurred here and of course news traveled slowly then.
Juneteenth was mainly celebrated here in Texas for many decades It is more wide spread now.

@Jolanta

"Though many attribute the end of slavery to President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the truth is that not every slave — especially those who lived in the Confederacy — was made entirely free by the decree.

"Numerous Confederate loyalists refused to obey Lincoln’s executive order and continued to hold out, even well after General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union Army at Appomattox Court in Virginia in April 1865.

"According to African American history scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., slaveowners who had previously lived in Mississippi, Louisiana and other states decided to escape the Union’s reach by moving to Texas. In choosing to do so, they moved nearly 150,000 slaves, many of whom were unaware of Lincoln’s order. A number of slave masters, who had been aware of the proclamation, purposely chose to delay the news in an effort to maintain control, while others — including the Confederate mayor of Galveston — defied Lincoln’s proclamation by forcing free slaves back to work.

"As Gates notes, the few slaves who eventually learned of their freedom acted on it at their own risks. Many were reportedly shot during their attempt to cross the Sabine River, which runs through Texas and Louisiana.

" It wasn’t until June 19 — two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation — that General Gordon Granger, along with an army strong enough to combat the resistance, arrived to announce General Orders No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

"Thus, the last of America’s slaves — all 250,000 of them in Texas — were finally free."

[yahoo.com]

@LiterateHiker Thank you

2

I agree!! After so much time and absolute mistreatment beyond comprehension, the black race deserves more than can ever be repayed for their treatment of being devalued as human beings.
A day to honor their freedom is the least we can do to honor their unfair circumstances of being "owned" against their will and being devalued and dehumanized.

2

American blacks need more than a holiday to restore their lives. A holiday would be a good start though.

2

I’m all for it. I was given the afternoon off work today. I work for a university so a progressive move like this was not surprising.

2

itll just become commercialized. I say no. But I'm also white as snow so I don't feel like I have a say

redhog Level 7 June 19, 2020

Well, you SHOULD have a day!! It does matter...along with their lives!

2

Disagree . It would mean to much burden on the tax payers who are already over burdened.

2

If it could be played like MLK Day … where each employer has the opportunity to acknowledge or ignore it … I could live without it..

Varn Level 8 June 19, 2020
1

I agree. If there seem to be too many holidays we can drop Columbus Day. Juneteenth represents a very significant turning point in our history and we currently have federal holidays for less significant events.

OCJoe Level 6 June 24, 2020
1

I would support the bill. I wasn’t so sure about MLK. I honestly didn’t think he was so important to US history to qualify, but I didn’t object. I understood that he was important to the African-American community. But this is important to US history as a whole.

1

How about a Texas state holiday?

It is a Texas state holiday.

1

Better than Columbus day or Xmas, which just because it is religious shouldn't be a fed holiday. Is good Friday one - that sure as fuck shouldn't be (I remember having college classes on good Friday though).

1

You know this is about history it seems the majority that wants it changed does. We should all remember our own history and tell the government where to put their holidays. They have not made one Native American holiday really.

Yes. Where is the holiday to honor native Americans?

@racocn8 Native American Day 2020 is a federal holiday observed, annually, on the fourth Friday in September in the state of California and on the second Monday in October in South Dakota, United States.

1

Get all the idiots out of Congress

1

Good idea

ismeal Level 4 June 20, 2020
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