Recently on June 19th, Juneteenth was celebrated for the 6th year as a federal holiday. In 2021, the holiday was established, celebrating the first day of enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, in Galveston, Texas in 1865. Despite its relevance as the end of slavery, a multitude of conservatives such as the President himself have spoken against the holiday, pointing to it as a useless — and even woke — celebration that divides people and takes away from working hours. Arguably, however, these claims are counterintuitive as Juneteenth affects the masses ideologically more than we think.
A primary group affected by this holiday is women. By denying Juneteenth, women are denying the very same freedom they themselves are fighting for — against systems of domineering oppression. Moreover, the holiday is presented as activism in a similar way women use to fight for their own rights. The celebration takes place over social media, fashions, and events. In treating Juneteenth as a dramatic display of “wokeness” and virtue signaling, women deny commercialism as a valid display of protest and recognition, consequently denying their primary mode of expression.
Secondly, and perhaps shockingly, by slandering Juneteenth the lower-class communities of America slander themselves. Even more than in women’s rights, there is an overwhelming unity among lower-class people against power-based regimes that take away their free will, those that have financial and governmental dominance over their livelihoods. Juneteenth celebrates the same essence, a fight against greed-based executives who treated others as subhuman and denied them rights. As a low-income person, speaking of Juneteenth negatively grants power back to the same executives.
Ultimately, a spotlight should be shined on the real reason why people are spreading hate about Juneteenth. Maybe it is not as much the function of the holiday, and more so that conservative media figures feel personally offended by others’ tendency to call out oppression in a way that forces them to be socially accountable and educated on minority rights.
