Juneteenthhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JuneteenthI first heard the word in the introduction to a Harlan Ellison book in the early 1990's. I thought it was just some dumb word he made up like in other stories he's written, such as "Shatterday" or "plasteel" or "Riding the Daymare".
But as it turns out, over 20 years later, I finally know that "Juneteenth" means a bit more, that while Lincoln's emancipation proclamation was in 1863, news that slavery was abolished was finally announced in the last backwaters of the overthrown Confederacy when U.S. troops announced it in Texas on June 19, 1865.
And apparently, the current Black Lives Matter crowd wants to turn it into a national "Hate Whitey Day". We already have Martin Luther King Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, July 4th/Independence Day, Labor Day, Arbor Day, Cinco de Mayo, Armed Forces Day, Earth Day, Patriot Day, Constitution Day, Columbus Day, Hannukah, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Kwanzaaa. A good percentage of these holidays didn't exist when I was in high school. There's 365 days in the year, pretty soon every day of the year will recognize some historic event or cause.
And if you think it's pointless to create yet another holiday, you are, of course... a racist!
I'm sorry, but when we already recognize the Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln on Sept 22, 1862, and the 13th Amendemnt to the Constitution in Dec 1865, in addition to all the other holidays dedicated to our national history and wars, including Marling Luther King Day specifically for black History, as well as Black History Month, I just find "Juneteenth" a bit redundant.
