Some of the reactions and comments that I saw from white people on Juneteenth were predictable, and yet still depressing and angering.
Some wondered why this was scheduled the same day as Father’s Day: “Why couldn’t this be another day instead?” Others called it a “made up holiday,” as if this was a brand new thing that the government or corporations or somebody else came up with just last year. And still others smashed together buzzwords like “woke” and “Marxist” to make the usual MAGA white grievance word salad.
It was easy to pick out who has actually researched this day even the tiniest bit, and who hasn’t.
I don’t know if I’ll ever truly cease to be amazed by this kind of ignorance, willful or not. I can hope that over time less people will react to Juneteenth in this way, but I don’t have enough faith in the state of our educational system and people’s ability to overcome the relentless barrage of propaganda for that to be so.
One person, one mind, one attitude at a time. I suppose that’s the best I can hope for right now. Something as simple as doing a Google search for the true nature of Juneteenth could lead to a better understanding of other things, too.
Jeffrey A. Nelson 