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Good news! We are on the cusp of our second federally recognized Juneteenth! Emphasis on the federally. In the newest development of America’s most recent backhanded compliment of a holiday, state-by-state adoption of the bittersweet occasion has been rolling in at a molasses pace.
Although almost every state recognizes Juneteenth in some fashion, many have been slow to do more than issue a proclamation or resolution, even as some continue to commemorate the Confederacy.
Lawmakers in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and other states failed to advance proposals this year that would have closed state offices and given most of their public employees paid time off for the June 19 holiday.
…
“Juneteenth marks the date of major significance in American history. It represents the ways in which freedom for Black people have been delayed,” said Democratic Rep. Anthony Nolan, who is Black, while arguing in favor of making Juneteenth a paid holiday in Connecticut on the House floor. “And if we delay this, it’s a smack in the face to Black folks.”
I think that he’s got a point. I’m at the level of disenchantment that I consider Juneteenth largely a publicity stunt. I mean, if Biden really wanted to do something in the spirit of righting the wrong that is deferred freedom, he could have just pardoned a slew of Black folks who were enslaved as a consequence of a racial drug war. What better way to honor the spirit of a holiday whose entire purpose is to redeem those who should have been freed years ago than to, I don’t know, free Black people serving jail time for marijuana possession while white folks are making a killing selling the same shit a few states over?
By the way, if you read the first paragraph and thought “Backhanded?! How?” — don’t worry about it. You’re not the only one unaware of the holiday’s origins. Here’s a primer.
YOU MEAN TO TELL ME PEOPLE CAN’T GET A PAID DAY OFF ON THE HOLIDAY THAT COMMEMORATES THE END OF SLAVERY?!
Please forgive that brief interruption. In the small break I took to print out the Emancipation Proclamation in preparation for the holiday, Kilmonger must have gotten hold of my laptop keys. He’s got a point though.
Lawmakers, judges — whoever is at the “levers of power” — if you’re gonna make symbolic gestures to appease minorities instead of preventing the teaching of actual history in the state Juneteenth hails from or further reduce the efficacy of Bivens actions and the like, could you at least put the holiday on the same level as Confederate Day? You know, the holiday where we, for whatever reason, honor the traitors toward the Union?
Please and thanks.
Despite Push, States Slow To Make Juneteenth A Paid Holiday [AP]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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Though Federally Recognized, States Are Still A Little Hesitant With Honoring The Formerly Enslaved - Above the Law
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