http://www.juneteenth.com/ In 1980, Texas was the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday under legislation introduced by freshman Democratic state representative Al Edwards. Rocket River
It is an interesting holiday, fairly important in Texas and some other states.... and no one in Chicago or some other states in the Mid West don't even know what it is. I wonder if it becomes a more prominent holiday or slips into oblivion, it does seem to be bigger than it was a decade ago.
I'd say the latter, as I remember celebrations being far more widespread in the 1980s when I was growing up.
A couple of years ago it was kind of front page news in Minneapolis and mentioned on TV news as well. They had celebrations also. If it's mentioned in either newspaper today it is not prominent at all.
It is in flux. I think some years are stronger than others Also . . . .it comes after a very devastating tragedy Rocket River
Freedom Tree Park https://www.google.com/maps/place/F...82,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x2681fba5c9757631 As land planners for Lake Olympia we heard that this large oak was where the slaves working on the Palmer Plantation heard the news. Proud it was saved and designated as a park. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0JjS29de5U
This is problematic, because I appreciate the need for the celebration, and don't want to pee in anybody's Cheerios, but my inner pedant is going crazy. This is one of those weird holidays like Cinco de Mayo where the actual event becomes eclipsed by the scope of the celebration. Why are people in South Carolina celebrating the nominal end of slavery in Texas? Shouldn't they celebrate the end of slavery in South Carolina? On Cinco de Mayo, I had a Hispanic dude get pissed at me, because I tried to tell him May Fifth wasn't Mexican Independence Day. The celebration encompases things in a much larger scale than what the actual event covered. I guess that's fine, but to some part of me it is as fingernails on a chalkboard. Sorry if bringing this up annoys anybody.
Sounds like your intelligence gets in the way of just enjoying yourself, lighten up. Not a slam against you, just a suggestion!
Christ was not born on Dec 25th All Veterans did not die on Memorial Day Celebrating the event . . .. a day needed to be chosen . . . why not June 19th? The celebration is about the end of slavery . . . .period The Emancipation did not end it . . . it was not ended until the last slave was freed. Rocket River
It's an interesting point that prompted me to google bomb. I think this link explains it well. For some Juneteenth has become the symbolic measure of black independence among other contenders. Celebrating black history as American history is still an uphill effort. For others, Juneteenth was the day the blacks were told they were free, a capstone to the emancipation drives a couple of years before... http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/ As for Cinco de Mayo, I once heard an interesting vignette about the victory against Napoleon's superior troops. Mexican soldiers pretty much evacuated an open city, and the city welcomed the troops as liberators through celebration and massive drunkeness. Early next morning, Mexican soldiers ambushed the French troops with their pants down which gave them their biggest victory of the Napoleonic invasion. Historic French victory denied. Pretty crafty lesson in asymetric warfare, though understandably whitewashed in historical contexts.
