Why does the US celebrate July 4th as our Independance Day yet does not acknowle

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   Miss Knowledge77posted 8 years ago

   Why does the US celebrate July 4th as our Independance Day yet does not acknowledge Juneteenth?
   
   

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   dashingscorpioposted 8 years ago

   Independence from another country isn't the same as gaining freedoms and civil rights for citizens of one's own government. There are no national holidays for women getting the right to vote either. And yet the cry prior to this nation's independence was:
   "No taxation without representation."
   Nevertheless there is nothing preventing anyone from taking off June 19th if they desire. In fact there are many holidays such as MLK, Columbus Day, Veteran's Day and President's Day where a large portion of the country does not get the day off.
   If Juneteenth ever became a holiday it would probably be one of those types of holidays and not up their with Memorial Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, or Christmas....etc
   Having said all of that the reason why Juneteenth isn't a holiday is because there has never been a {major push by any large group} of citizens to make it such. I've yet to see anything along the lines similar to when people were in favor of  making MLK a holiday.

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      Miss Knowledge77posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Those same slaves fought for the freedom of this country as well and remained slaves which means they did not gain their freedom. So once they did this country should have acknowledge that as well

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      dashingscorpioposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      So your question is "Why is Juneteenth not celebrated?" Why do (you) think it's not? Aside from slaves being viewed as property and 3/5ths of a man at the time. I still believe it's not a holiday because no major group has ever pushed for it.

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      Miss Knowledge77posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Why are you asking me a question that I presented to the forum? Also why should it be necessary to "push" for this holiday to be recognized?

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   Johnny James Aposted 8 years ago

   My opinion as to why Juneteenth will never be a national holiday is that countries do not like to advertise portions of their history which shows it in a bad light.  Looking at the holiday of Juneteenth, one could look at it from the point of view as a holiday that commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, and  the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the South back on June 19, 1865. This view would make the holiday look good in many people's eyes. However, you would then also have to acknowledge that Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862 gave a legal executive order freeing all of the slaves which the people, state governments, and military of the south all chose to ignore. This near three year difference between the "legal" freeing of the slaves and the actual freeing of many of the slaves is an embarrassing stain on the history of America on so many levels. Even if one wanted to argue that the South had a right to secede, the war ended on May 9, 1865 and yet for another month and a half many people still tried to ignore a legal executive order.
   
   As for July 4th, a July 4th celebration can always be discussed as a country rising up against an oppressor country.  July 4th sounds majestic. Juneteenth would need to be discussed as the ending of its citizens, state governments, and portions of its military from effectively ignoring the legal executive order of its Commander-in-Chief and abolishing a horrible act of slavery. Then people would need to look at the treatment of the newly freed men and women in the aftermath of Juneteenth and it was very bad. Texas, the first state to acknowledge Juneteenth would not allow celebrations of Juneteenth in many parks and streets due to segregation laws.  Freedmen had to pool money together to buy land in order to celebrate.  One of those pieces of land is now a park.
   
   To this day some citizens have a problem celebrating July 4th knowing back in July 4, 1776 African-American Slaves were still considered property when the Declaration of Independence was signed. Most states have now listed it as either a "day of observance" which is not an official holiday, although some states list is as a unofficial holiday and some as an official holiday.

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      Miss Knowledge77posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I have a problem celebrating this day when it took 89 years for my ancestors to gain their freedom. This is not my Independance Day

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   bradmasterOCcalposted 8 years ago

   Maybe because no one really knows about juneteenth. I certainly didn't have a clue. There is black history month.

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      Miss Knowledge77posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Black History Month? Black American History can't be bottled into one month. That's why you didn't know about Junteenth. It's AMERICAN HISTORY.

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      bradmasterOCcalposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Slavery really didn't end in 1865, and this country is not about Blacks, it is about America. You want black heritage try Africa.
      We should really have a Revolutionary War month,not a black history month. Blacks are just one of many type in the US.

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      Miss Knowledge77posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      My point being that our country tends to teach "certain" history and overlooks the actual history. It shouldn't be about color period. You just stated that you didn't know about Juneteenth which is AMERICAN history...not African.

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