Juneteenth (June 19) to become federal holiday - starting tomorrow (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

@DaveXA you're off tomorrow dogg!

 

[Sun Waves]

No, I won't waste my time with you because you aren't willing or capable of comprehending his point. Keep patting yourself on the back though. It's a good look for those with limited understanding.

You won't because you can't.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

Now, for anyone reading this who actually cares about more than low-level trolling...

The point Freeman was making if you read/see the entire interview wasn't that we should become ostriches on racism, it was that if EVERYONE were to stop using race as an identifier it wouldn't be an issue. So if you stop identifying me as black and I stop identifying you as white we can make some progress. However, it isn't "pretend there's no racism, click your heels three times and woosh! there it goes". That's child-like thinking and fortunately at least Freeman is brighter than that. Unfortuately, not everyone else is.

What I think Freeman misses is race is part of the fundamental human condition. Notice I said race, not racism. You all know my mantra that we need a more nuanced discussion of race than just racist or not. We are tribal by nature and will always seek to find characteristics we identify with to bond together. The key is to minimize the effects of race. Getting rid of it is a pipe dream.

 

[DaveXA]

Now, for anyone reading this who actually cares about more than low-level trolling...

The point Freeman was making if you read/see the entire interview wasn't that we should become ostriches on racism, it was that if EVERYONE were to stop using race as an identifier it wouldn't be an issue. So if you stop identifying me as black and I stop identifying you as white we can make some progress. However, it isn't "pretend there's no racism, click your heels three times and woosh! there it goes". That's child-like thinking and fortunately at least Freeman is brighter than that. Unfortuately, not everyone else is.

What I think Freeman misses is race is part of the fundamental human condition. Notice I said race, not racism. You all know my mantra that we need a more nuanced discussion of race than just racist or not. We are tribal by nature and will always seek to find characteristics we identify with to bond together. The key is to minimalize the effects of race. Getting rid of it is a pipe dream.

I guess I'm an odd duck because I actually seek to build friendships and relationships with people who don't necessarily have to look or think like me.

And fwiw, race isn't a bad thing in my worldview. If anything, I celebrate our differences. My wife is Asian, most of the people I work with, including my supervisors are AA. Most of my friends and neighbors are internationals or AA.

I try to take the time to appreciate other cultures. I don't always get it right because I have my own blind spots sometimes, but always willing to learn and value others.

I agree, to ignore race is to ignore fundamentally who people are. We shouldn't be looking to get rid of it, but rather to embrace it. Jmho.

 

[Sun Waves]

However, it isn't "pretend there's no racism, click your heels three times and woosh! there it goes". That's child-like thinking and fortunately at least Freeman is brighter than that. Unfortuately, not everyone else is.

Who said that's what he meant? I didn't.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

I guess I'm an odd duck because I actually seek to build friendships and relationships with people who don't necessarily have to look or think like me.

And fwiw, race isn't a bad thing in my worldview. If anything, I celebrate our differences. My wife is Asian, most of the people I work with, including my supervisors are AA. Most of my friends and neighbors are internationals or AA.

I try to take the time to appreciate other cultures. I don't always get it right because I have my own blind spots sometimes, but always willing to learn and value others.

I agree, to ignore race is to ignore fundamentally who people are. We shouldn't be looking to get rid of it, but rather to embrace it. Jmho.

I'm in the same boat. I generally look for people different than me because it expands my experiences and worldview.

However, as a black man I'd also be lying if I said there aren't moments that I retreat to people "like" me because of stresses from working to fit in. People here know the story of my racist father in law who disowned my wife for dating black men and couldn't name all 4 of our kids without help. Obviously the reason he's racist is because I talk about it, but I digress.

There are times after time with her family in Mississippi I've needed to go spend some time with my black friends or family to decompress. I needed to be around something like me to get my compass back set North from the emotional toll of knowing I'm being looked at and sneered at behind my back. Now mind you, it's not all of them. Many of them I'm actually really close to, but there's a segment that are just terrible human beings who only care about one characteristic about me.

The same goes for professional life. I spend a lot of time with C-level executives and in board rooms. It is rare, like I can count on my fingers how many times it has happened rare, for there to be another black person in the room. There are times I need to go sit in the office with another black person at my professional level to remind myself I'm not alone. It's odd coming from someone like me that enjoys the company of "others" to sometimes need the company of people like me to recharge.

 

[Optimus Prime]

so this happened
===========

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - An event banner in downtown Greenville is sparking some controversy. The banner, created by a non-profit organization hosting a Juneteenth event, reads, “an upstate celebration of freedom, unity and love,” showing an image of a white man and woman.

This controversy started with one picture of the banner circulating on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Since Tuesday, the photo has spread with hundreds of posts, comments and many more questions.

“I was appalled, said Greenville activist Bruce Wilson from Fighting Injustice Together. “I was saddened, I was angry.”

Wilson has hosted Juneteenth events in Greenville since 2020. Although he’s not hosting events this year, he said everyone should celebrate the holiday, as it marks the day a Union general informed the last enslaved Black Americans they were free, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed..............

Organization releases statement after Juneteenth event banner spurs controversy

A Greenville Juneteenth event banner showing a white man and woman, is sparking controversy.

www.foxcarolina.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

On the heels of news that the Proud Boys are planning disruptive protests during the Pride month of June, the counter-extremist expert Samantha Kutner warns us that the alt-right group is specifically targeting Juneteenth celebrations as well.

In an attempt to appropriate the federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery, the Proud Boys are organizing their own event on June 17th, expanding their vitriol to not just LGBTQ discrimination but also white supremacy.

“They target everyone who doesn’t belong to their in-group,” Kutner explained to LGBTQ Nation in a recent interview. “Their extremism is framed as an assertion of their masculinity, anything that is a perceived threat to that is a target.”..........

Alt-right Proud Boys are targeting Juneteenth this year, expert warns

 

[Optimus Prime]

Juneteenth has been recognized as a US federal holiday since 2021 and acts as a day to celebrate the end of slavery in the country – but millions of Americans will not have the day off today, 19 June, to mark the occasion.

At least 30 states – including most recently Rhode Island and Kentucky – and the District of Columbia recognize Juneteenth as an official public holiday, according to the Pew Research Center.

Yet as the number of states to legally declare Juneteenth a holiday rises, other states continue to cling to holidays that honor the Confederacy.


Ten states – all in the American south – have at least one day commemorating the Confederacy, according to Axios, and six former Confederate states do not officially recognize Juneteenth: Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Mississippi and Alabama each celebrate three Confederate holidays – paid holidays for state employees: Confederate Memorial Day; the birthday of Jefferson Davis, the leader of the Confederacy; and Robert E Lee Day, to commemorate the leader of the Confederate army. In both states, Robert E Lee Day is also used to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day.……

As Juneteenth grows in US, southern states cling to Confederate holidays

At least 30 states officially celebrate end of slavery in US, but others pay employees to take day off to celebrate enslavers

www.theguardian.com

 

[fooferdoggie]

J

Mississippi and Alabama each celebrate three Confederate holidays – paid holidays for state employees: Confederate Memorial Day; the birthday of Jefferson Davis, the leader of the Confederacy; and Robert E Lee Day, to commemorate the leader of the Confederate army. In both states, Robert E Lee Day is also used to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day.……

they still try to think it was not about slavery.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Juneteenth has been recognized as a US federal holiday since 2021 and acts as a day to celebrate the end of slavery in the country – but millions of Americans will not have the day off today, 19 June, to mark the occasion.

At least 30 states – including most recently Rhode Island and Kentucky – and the District of Columbia recognize Juneteenth as an official public holiday, according to the Pew Research Center.

Yet as the number of states to legally declare Juneteenth a holiday rises, other states continue to cling to holidays that honor the Confederacy.


Ten states – all in the American south – have at least one day commemorating the Confederacy, according to Axios, and six former Confederate states do not officially recognize Juneteenth: Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Mississippi and Alabama each celebrate three Confederate holidays – paid holidays for state employees: Confederate Memorial Day; the birthday of Jefferson Davis, the leader of the Confederacy; and Robert E Lee Day, to commemorate the leader of the Confederate army. In both states, Robert E Lee Day is also used to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day.……

As Juneteenth grows in US, southern states cling to Confederate holidays

At least 30 states officially celebrate end of slavery in US, but others pay employees to take day off to celebrate enslavers

www.theguardian.com

I'm pretty certain Louisiana would be in that number if JBE had not been governor at the time.

 

[Dragon]

One of the things that I always wonder about is why the US register race at all. We have people of many different origins here but "race" appears nowhere on our official identification papers. Hair color, Eye color and similar information but not one single word regarding "race". The fact that "race" is used on official documents iHMO is one of the things that makes it easier to see "others" as different

 

[Bigdaddysaints]

they still try to think it was not about slavery.

Its about states rights!! not Slavery!!
States right to do what? State Rights to do what?
(silence)....

 

[Optimus Prime]