Question about Juneteenth

[Anonymous]

I can't even imagine adding how to celebrate Juneteenth to my list of things to worry about after the last few years. It's a federal holiday, and that is quite significant. I can't take this on as a personal matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know why it's called "Juneteenth" and not like emancipation day or something else?

It's the same as saying "Fourth of July" instead of "Independence Day"..

"June Nineteeth" became contracted into "June'teenth".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My partner and I wanted to go to our local celebration but were hesitant. We saw several social media posts by Black individuals who basically said the same thing: white people stay away, let us have something that's all ours.

We decided to not attend and respect those feelings. We did drive by and saw hardly any white people there. We decided to just show our support by visiting our favorite Black-owned restaurant for lunch.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how the holiday celebrations develop in the future.

Like, we didn't want to step on anyone's toes... but we also don't want there to be an attitude by others in our community that white people don't care. Very tricky to navigate.

I’m Black and find this VERY damaging to the community. While Juneteenth is forever connected to the enslavement of Blacks (and I’ve certainly inherited the generational trauma from my ancestors), I think it should be seen as a holiday that celebrates human dignity and our equality as human beings. Therefore, we should celebrate TOGETHER as a community. I want to see my white neighbors, friends, and brethren there. I don’t want my Black brethren to celebrate while my white brethren are excluded and not sure what to do. That only further divides us and makes it more difficult to battle the ongoing issues of racism plaguing our society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Black person, Juneteenth is hard for me. I just imagine being the last slave on the last plantation to get word. It makes me angry. That is not something I want to celebrate with white people. But I am not angry at white people. I imagine other people (likely the non-Texans), regardless of race, are still trying to figure out how to feel and how to recognize this day. And that’s OK.

I would rather go to a friends & family cookout, or a church activity, something of that sort. Not a city-wide “all are welcome” shindig. And definitely not a “day of service” community effort.

I just want a day to reflect (not celebrate) and relax.

Didn't your ancestors, the people who experienced slavery, decide they wanted to celebrate? It was a big celebration, with a parade and food and wearing all fineries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can blacks celebrate St. Patrick's day?

They can and they do! Everyone is Irish on St. Paddy's Day.

Is everyone a freed slave on June 19th?

Everyone can be happy about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My father is an old white dude who lives in a flyover state. He saw an ad for his town's Juneteenth event, touting food, music, and festivities, and it emphasized that everyone was welcome. He thought it sounded like fun and wanted to show his support, so he and my mother went to the event. He was surprised to see that only about 5% of attendees were white, and thought that maybe he'd crashed a party that no one really wanted him at. For context, he lives in a liberal college town that is fairly diverse (for the region).

I'm curious--do people see Juneteenth as truly a holiday for everyone to celebrate, or is that mostly just lip service, and he should have read between the lines that this is a holiday for Black Americans? If you are Black, would you be happy to see other races celebrating Juneteenth with you, or would you prefer this to be an event primarily for Black people to celebrate together?

It's a holiday for everyone. The fact that so few white people chose to come to the celebration says something about the white people, not the intentions of the people who planned and hosted the event.

DP. Oh, spare us all. Had a lot of white people attended, you'd be complaining that they had somehow "appropriated" a holiday that was meant for black people. Face it, you simply want to complain about "white people."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My partner and I wanted to go to our local celebration but were hesitant. We saw several social media posts by Black individuals who basically said the same thing: white people stay away, let us have something that's all ours.

We decided to not attend and respect those feelings. We did drive by and saw hardly any white people there. We decided to just show our support by visiting our favorite Black-owned restaurant for lunch.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how the holiday celebrations develop in the future.

Like, we didn't want to step on anyone's toes... but we also don't want there to be an attitude by others in our community that white people don't care. Very tricky to navigate.

I’m Black and find this VERY damaging to the community. While Juneteenth is forever connected to the enslavement of Blacks (and I’ve certainly inherited the generational trauma from my ancestors), I think it should be seen as a holiday that celebrates human dignity and our equality as human beings. Therefore, we should celebrate TOGETHER as a community. I want to see my white neighbors, friends, and brethren there. I don’t want my Black brethren to celebrate while my white brethren are excluded and not sure what to do. That only further divides us and makes it more difficult to battle the ongoing issues of racism plaguing our society.

Black woman here and I’m curious about what you saw that you interpreted as ‘basically being told to stay away’ because that is very different than the things that I was. Wondering if it’s just a difference set of people or if we’ve interpreted the same sorts of posts in different ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Black person, Juneteenth is hard for me. I just imagine being the last slave on the last plantation to get word. It makes me angry. That is not something I want to celebrate with white people. But I am not angry at white people. I imagine other people (likely the non-Texans), regardless of race, are still trying to figure out how to feel and how to recognize this day. And that’s OK.

I would rather go to a friends & family cookout, or a church activity, something of that sort. Not a city-wide “all are welcome” shindig. And definitely not a “day of service” community effort.

I just want a day to reflect (not celebrate) and relax.

I’m a white lady, and that’s what I suspected.

It’s interesting though how Juneteenth is portrayed as “Black 4th of July.” (See Blackish, Black AF, and the annual DC celebration)

It's probably not done with ill intent. Maybe an effort to understand a new to them tradition. Like casually equating Hannukah with being the Jewish Christmas. Ofcourse the answer is to become more educated about these traditions.

Hard to say.

You would think that Blackish and Black AF would portray Juneteenth appropriately.

I think Americans will grapple with it for a while before they land on whatever it will become. For now, it’s a new holiday for most Americans.

Yup 40 or so years ago when MLK became a holiday the same thing happened. I think over time it will just be another day off for most folks like any of the other holidays.

Did you see the threads about Memorial Day? Lots of people around here are upset about Memorial Day BBQs, sales, parties, etc. Its not a happy holiday - it’s literally for remembering dead soldiers.

Juneteenth will likely become like every other holiday - a commercialized/commodified (may take a year or two how to do that “tastefully”) long weekend where most people enjoy the day off and don’t think of the reason, while a few people reflect on its meaning.

[Anonymous]

I read this article this morning and... I still don't have a good understand of how to celebrate or support.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106193407/celebrate-juneteenth-the-right-way

I think, for now, I'm going to avoid any commercialization of the holiday and only support black-owned businesses on that day.

I don't think buying a Juneteenth t-shirt from Target will ever be okay as a white woman like I feel okay doing to celebrate St. Patrick's Day or Pride.

If I'm invited to an event by a friend, I will 100% attend. I'm not sure I'll seek out attending an event on my own yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read this article this morning and... I still don't have a good understand of how to celebrate or support.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106193407/celebrate-juneteenth-the-right-way

I think, for now, I'm going to avoid any commercialization of the holiday and only support black-owned businesses on that day.

I don't think buying a Juneteenth t-shirt from Target will ever be okay as a white woman like I feel okay doing to celebrate St. Patrick's Day or Pride.

If I'm invited to an event by a friend, I will 100% attend. I'm not sure I'll seek out attending an event on my own yet.

You can have your own party or event. You can invite others or keep it small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Juneteenth celebrates the official end of slavery in the US. It is an American holiday we should celebrate, regardless of skin tone.

This!! We should all celebrate!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Juneteenth celebrates the official end of slavery in the US. It is an American holiday we should celebrate, regardless of skin tone.

This!! We should all celebrate!

This!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My partner and I wanted to go to our local celebration but were hesitant. We saw several social media posts by Black individuals who basically said the same thing: white people stay away, let us have something that's all ours.

We decided to not attend and respect those feelings. We did drive by and saw hardly any white people there. We decided to just show our support by visiting our favorite Black-owned restaurant for lunch.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how the holiday celebrations develop in the future.

Like, we didn't want to step on anyone's toes... but we also don't want there to be an attitude by others in our community that white people don't care. Very tricky to navigate.

I’m Black and find this VERY damaging to the community. While Juneteenth is forever connected to the enslavement of Blacks (and I’ve certainly inherited the generational trauma from my ancestors), I think it should be seen as a holiday that celebrates human dignity and our equality as human beings. Therefore, we should celebrate TOGETHER as a community. I want to see my white neighbors, friends, and brethren there. I don’t want my Black brethren to celebrate while my white brethren are excluded and not sure what to do. That only further divides us and makes it more difficult to battle the ongoing issues of racism plaguing our society.

Here is what white people are hearing from black people when they want to spend more time taking part in traditionally black culture:

“People of color need their own spaces. Black people need their own spaces. We need places in which we can gather and be free from the mainstream stereotypes and marginalization that permeate every other societal space we occupy. We need spaces where we can be our authentic selves without white people’s judgment and insecurity muzzling that expression.”


https://arrow-journal.org/why-people-of-color-need-spaces-without-white-people/


Summary? Go away your spoiling the vibe with your white skin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My partner and I wanted to go to our local celebration but were hesitant. We saw several social media posts by Black individuals who basically said the same thing: white people stay away, let us have something that's all ours.

We decided to not attend and respect those feelings. We did drive by and saw hardly any white people there. We decided to just show our support by visiting our favorite Black-owned restaurant for lunch.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how the holiday celebrations develop in the future.

Like, we didn't want to step on anyone's toes... but we also don't want there to be an attitude by others in our community that white people don't care. Very tricky to navigate.

I’m Black and find this VERY damaging to the community. While Juneteenth is forever connected to the enslavement of Blacks (and I’ve certainly inherited the generational trauma from my ancestors), I think it should be seen as a holiday that celebrates human dignity and our equality as human beings. Therefore, we should celebrate TOGETHER as a community. I want to see my white neighbors, friends, and brethren there. I don’t want my Black brethren to celebrate while my white brethren are excluded and not sure what to do. That only further divides us and makes it more difficult to battle the ongoing issues of racism plaguing our society.

Black woman here and I’m curious about what you saw that you interpreted as ‘basically being told to stay away’ because that is very different than the things that I was. Wondering if it’s just a difference set of people or if we’ve interpreted the same sorts of posts in different ways.

Mostly IG stories which have expired by now. But literally, "stay home white people" and also telling them to cash app black people reparations. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

We had an interesting debate over what people should eat as part of the celebration. Traditional southern food? Fried chicken and watermelon? But is that racist? We eat corned beef and cabbage on st Patrick’s day even though we’re not Irish. And we eat German food during Octoberfest. Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo.