Juneteenth aims to recognize the black emancipation of slavery, but there is a risk that it will become another day of rest, defined more by road travel and mattress sales.
The big picture: Corporations, retailers and some local governments are fighting over how to honor the holiday that marks the end of slavery.
Why it matters: Juneteenth became a federal holiday last year. This year is the first time a party has been planned.
What they say: “When you live in a society like ours, there is always the danger that this type of vacation will be absorbed in a kind of market, based on consumption. A kind of logic or experience,” Eddie S. Glaude . president of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, told Axios.
- “You don’t just want to market it. It’s not just another day you’ve just taken off,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told Axios. “It’s a day of freedom, of liberation for people who were once slaves and who were set free.”
Yes, but some companies are using Juneteenth as a brand opportunity and community service.
- Power Home Remodeling, one of the largest outdoor home remodels in the country, initiates an inaugural Juneteenth initiative in Atlanta with a walking tour of black historic sites and outings to black-owned businesses.
- Delta Air Lines and American Family Insurance have announced their participation in Unlock Potential, a recruitment program focused on racial equity for at-risk youth that aims to prevent imprisonment.
Background: Juneteenth has been held for years in Houston and Galveston, Texas, to commemorate U.S. Major General Gordon Granger who issued General Order No. 3 during the Civil War.
- This order announced that, according to the Proclamation of Emancipation, “all slaves are free.” Texas was one of the last places in the United States where slaves experienced emancipation.
- The day was marked for decades in the Houston area with meals, parades, concerts and conferences as a way to recapture the excitement of hope and emancipation.
- June celebrations have become increasingly important across the country in recent years and have become a rallying point after the assassination of George Floyd, which helped drive the drive to convert. at a federal party.
The conclusion: “Whether you’re having a barbecue and eating red velvet cake in June and you don’t think about slavery, or if it’s a program that has been organized so that we can think about it … without the holidays. , these two different events would not have happened, “Glaude said.