"I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous...it's actually an important event, and important time. But nobody had ever heard of it."

Said to Wall Street Journal reporter

---

Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

"And that guy Frederick Douglass deserves powerful credit for this wonderful day!"

Quote
Lemon Drop
"I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous...it's actually an important event, and important time. But nobody had ever heard of it."

Said to Wall Street Journal reporter

---

Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

There goes the black vote : )

---

Where is there dignity unless there is also honesty? - Cicero

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. —Wendy Mass

I believe it was already a state holiday in, of all places, Texas.

Quote
Lemon Drop
“But nobody had ever heard of it."

= I had never heard of it.

Quote
pdq

Quote
Lemon Drop
“But nobody had ever heard of it."

= I had never heard of it.

Exactly

Quote
RgrF
I believe it was already a state holiday in, of all places, Texas.

Texas was, of course, the only place it was observed when I was growing up there. Because that's its only historical significance: when enslaved people in Texas were told by proclamation of the January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Those in four other slave states wouldn't be free until December 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified by enough states.

As blacks moved to the Bay Area during World War II to work in the shipyards, Juneteenth went with them. But it was pretty much unknown in the rest of the country until the 1990s, or even later.

It seems a bit odd to now choose it as the date to celebrate nationally, rather than a date of national significance. But I guess the weather is better in June.

Please read about Juneteenth. Sen. Harris has introduced a bill to make this a national holiday, which is long past due. As Jerome Cobb wrote, this is an important marker of progress for ALL Americans.

Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in 1980, and a number of other states subsequently followed suit. The day is also celebrated outside the United States, with organizations in a number of countries using the day to recognize the end of slavery and to celebrate the culture and achievements of African Americans.

[www.britannica.com]

[www.newyorker.com]

[www.inquirer.com]

Kamela Harris, my current Senator and a former prosecutor, is running hard for the Veep spot. I sincerely hope she doesn't succeed. Let her be Biden's AG, a post she's equipped to handle.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2020 03:59PM by RgrF.

Quote

"On race issues, Mr. Trump said a black Secret Service agent told him the meaning of Juneteenth as the president was facing criticism for initially planning to hold his first campaign rally in three months on the day.
...
Holding a rally on that day, particularly as racial protests continued throughout the country, was insensitive, African-American leaders told Mr. Trump. He eventually pushed the rally back a day to June 20.

“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” Mr. Trump said, referring to news coverage of the rally date. “It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.” Mr. Trump said he polled many people around him, none of whom had heard of Juneteenth.

Mr. Trump paused the interview to ask an aide if she had heard of Juneteenth, and she pointed out that the White House had issued a statement last year commemorating the day. Mr. Trump’s White House has put out statements on Juneteenth during each of his first three years.

Oh really? We put out a statement? The Trump White House put out a statement?” Mr. Trump said. “OK, OK. Good.”
...
Mr. Trump said he hadn’t asked his black supporters or the Secret Service agent for their thoughts on removing the names of Confederate officers from 10 Army bases around the country."

---

Quote
RgrF
Kamela Harris, my current Senator and a former prosecutor, is running hard for the Veep spot. I sincerely hope she doesn't succeed. Let her be Biden's AG, a post she's equipped to handle.

I think she could do more, and longer on the Supreme Court.

---

San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater