The murder of George Floyd in the spring of 2020 at the hands of white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is proving to be a tipping point for a change in the conversation about race relations in America. It is in the aftermath of the blatant injustice in Floyd’s death that change seems to be reality.
Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 415-14 to declare June 19th - Juneteenth - as a federal holiday. Prior to that action on a federal level, LA Gov. John Bel Edwards declared Juneteenth to be a state holiday with all state officers closing for a half-day on Friday, June 18.
Today, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced that Juneteenth has been added to the calendar of holidays for city employees.
June 19th - aka Juneteenth - in 1865 was the day when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they had been freed. President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had been declared 2 ½ years earlier; but, sadly, news took longer to reach everyone in 1865, especially during and immediately after a war.
Even though the vote in the U.S. House was 415-14, opposition to the new federal holiday is strong. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) opposes recognizing Juneteenth as a federal holiday calling it an effort by the left to promote “critical race theory.”
Critical race theory is basically an understanding of the role racism had in the development of public policy in America. Some states are aggressively trying to ban the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 classrooms.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson declared the recognition of Juneteenth as the beginning of the end of America’s Independence Day celebrations on July 4th. Carlson is sounding the alarm that Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday will replace the traditional July 4th celebrations of America’s independence.
The truth is that some people are afraid of the truth. It is true that, over time, Americans were not taught an honest version of history. The role of slaves in building America and the role of racism in America were conveniently missing. The prominent role that many Blacks played in every aspect of America’s evolution was absent from history books. The only conclusion is that for too long the history taught in our schools was not an honest version of history.
The movie “Hidden Figures” taught many o us about the vital role a few Black women played in figuring out the mathematics that were critical to the success of America’s space program.
This year, many Americans learned about the Tulsa riots when white Americans slaughtered and destroyed Black Americans along with their successful businesses.
Why shouldn’t history be honest? Suppressing the truth about American history can be seen as a sign that the goal of history was to present a skewed version that disregarded the actual role played by Black Americans.
Tucker Carlson’s infantile notion that the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday will dilute the traditions of the Fourth of July suggests that the foundation of America’s celebration of independence is not strong. It also reveals Tucker Carlson as a “TV show host” rather than a serious journalist. Carlson’s sole goal appears to be providing entertainment that is void of facts and reality.
While hosts and politicians can pander to a specific group of Americans who want to be reinforced that they are great - we have a right and a responsibility to tell the truth.
