Juneteenth is supposed to be a joyous occasion that is set aside as a federal holiday to commemorate the end of the institution of slavery in the United States — even though slavery did not truly end in the United States for another six months in December 1865, making it odd to have a day to celebrate the end of slavery when slavery was not ended.
The holiday was promoted as the work of a racial reckoning and an achievement of racial equality. Yet, in 2024, racial animus still exists as some black people on social media have expressed anger that white people are off of work for Juneteenth.
The holiday’s name is derived from the lexical blend of “June” and “nineteenth.” It marks the anniversary of Union General Gordon Granger’s issuance of General Order No. 3 upon arriving in Galveston, Texas, in 1865. This Order notified the residents of Texas of the Emancipation Proclamation and freed the slaves in the state.
Despite this happening in 1865, it became a federal holiday after the George Floyd riots in 2020. There isn’t any connection between Floyd, the Civil War, and the Emancipation Proclamation; however, white Democrats wanted to pander to black people in the aftermath of the race riots and a time of tense racial strife.
But hostility and animosity still exist even after making Juneteenth a federal holiday. And many are actually mad that white people have off for Juneteenth, implying a lingering resentment against white people. Consider this social media post on X by actor D.L. Hughley.
“Juneteenth is [a] Federal holiday!” Hughley wrote. “That means there will be more white people who get the day off, on a day that commemorates the end of slavery than people who are the actual descendants of slaves!!”
Hughley’s obvious trouble with understanding demographic population totals aside, this is quite a bigoted statement by the actor. Admittedly, it could be an attempt at humor by Hughley. However, if a white person made such a comment, they would be labeled a racist or bigot, so I am going to apply the same logic here. More importantly, however, Hughley wasn’t alone, as others echoed his sentiments.
Melina Abdullah, a noted bigot, is another example of anti-white bigotry over Juneteenth. She was ahead of Hughley in the grand scheme of things, though, when, in 2022, she tweeted that white people weren’t welcomed to the Juneteenth cookout.
“Attention white people…Please don’t ask if you can come to the cookout,” Abdullah posted. “Juneteenth is freedom day for Black folks. It should be #Reparations day for white folks.”
Abdullah, a former chairwoman of the Department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, and current independent vice presidential candidate (running mate of Cornel West), might be shocked to find out that if it weren’t for “white folks,” there wouldn’t be a Juneteenth. This is because hundreds of thousands of “white folks” fought and died in the U.S. Civil War to end the system of slavery that Africans originated in Africa.
Consider just a few of the many other bigoted social media posts about Juneteenth and white people.
“Still don’t understand why white people get juneteenth off instead of having to work for free for a day in solidarity with my ancestors,” the X account of podcast host “BlackKnight10k” posted.
“White people should be doing double shifts on Juneteenth,” actor, writer, and filmmaker Kar Logan posted on X.
“Looking at these white people who have Juneteenth off,” Caroline Renard, a self-described director and television and film writer, posted.
There are too many to list, but all show an unbridled prejudice and racial bigotry by black people toward white people. After what was supposed to be a racial reckoning, at a time when the ideas of diversity and inclusion have become an integral part of society, there is a significant amount of anti-white bigotry that exists in this country that regularly gets ignored.
The kind of racist comments made above would cause significant controversy if they were made by white people talking about black people. The same should hold when it is black people talking about white people. Decades of radical indoctrination in schools and other cultural institutions in society have taught many black people to be resentful and hateful toward white people for something that happened over 150 years ago that affected no one living today. It’s indicative of just how radicalized many in the country have become.
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White people should not be made to feel guilty or be the victims of resentment over things people did decades and centuries ago. Such rhetoric does nothing to promote racial equality.
It’s wrong, it must stop, and, just like every other act of racial bigotry and prejudice, it has no place in society.