<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655680782526,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-3108-d928-a77f-73ccd2e60000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655680782526,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-3108-d928-a77f-73ccd2e60000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55680763", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1035122"} }); ","_id":"00000181-7e43-ddb6-a5eb-7e73c1120000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedToday is Juneteenth, a new federal holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved black people in the United States. It marks the anniversary of Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger entering Texas on June 19, 1865, and declaring all slaves free by General Order Number 3, which read:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”
Free black and white men owning African slaves is one of our country’s greatest sins. It prevented millions of people from experiencing the core tenet of the Declaration of Independence: that all men are created equal. As such, there should be a federal holiday honoring the end of slavery. This isn’t a Left or a Right thing. It’s not a Democrat or a Republican thing. It’s an American thing that was a significant achievement for our country and human civilization.
But if you listened to everyone on the Juneteenth bandwagon, you’d think that Juneteenth was the official end of slavery in this country. It’s a myth that many on the Left amplified in their propaganda to make Juneteenth a thing. In reality, slavery still existed throughout the U.S. until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in December 1865. This misconception is just one of the problems surrounding Juneteenth.
Juneteenth is polarizing in other ways, and for good reason. While some claim it has been celebrated for quite some time, the truth is, it did not receive widespread recognition until after the George Floyd rioting and looting. If you doubt this, compare the enthusiasm and numerous celebratory posts for the holiday by celebrities and such on social media in its first year compared to this year. Democrats throughout the country used this racial unrest to exploit and pander to black Americans by advocating for Juneteenth.
Democrats pushed to recognize it as a holiday that year — even though slavery had ended 155 years earlier. It was as if every Democrat in the country, during a year in which there was a presidential election, wanted to show black people and white liberals how enlightened, compassionate, and “woke” they were by supporting Juneteenth.
Juneteenth, or any holiday commemorating the end of slavery, has absolutely nothing to do with George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody. The two things are not related in any way. Floyd had nothing to do with slavery, freedom, or civil rights. There’s nothing about Floyd to celebrate or honor. The fact that the Left used this incident to promote Juneteenth as a holiday is nothing more than shameful political pandering and the typical cheap parlor tricks they use to appear to care for black Americans.
Slavery was a cruel and unjust institution that had plagued humanity for centuries throughout the world, and the U.S. ended it. It can be argued whether it took too long to do so, but nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of men died in battle and a president gave his life for this evil institution to end. There’s no reason not to celebrate this. In reality, our country should have had such a holiday long ago.
However, given the historical inaccuracies and the propagandist political theater that are now associated with it, I don’t think “Juneteenth” should actually be that day. It is forever tainted with the nefarious political meanderings of Democrats and the Left. Furthermore, the day that celebrates the end of slavery probably should be on a day that legitimately ended slavery.
