"Cancel Culture" Series: July 4th vs. Juneteenth

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Let's give a big thank you to No.45 for introducing us all to Juneteenth this year.  If it had not been for him, we would have never known that two years, after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Texas found out that they were actually free! 😒

On July 4, 1776  colonist declared their freedom from Great Britain, birthing what is now known as the United States of America.  However, this only meant freedom for white Americans, blacks were still enslaved.

So, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July"?  This question was posed by Frederick Douglass.  At the height of Independence Day celebrations, slave owners typically held slave auctions to prevent slaves from even thinking about liberty for themselves.

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Despite the fact that slavery was not abolished until 89 years after the Declaration of Independence, it is because of this document all Americans under the U.S. Constitution are now equally guaranteed individual freedom.

Is this cause enough for celebration by every American?

Some say Juneteenth is America's true Independence day because the end of slavery is when every American was considered to be free.

The revolution is being televised and people are dismantling Confederate statues all over the country because they are reminders of white supremacy and racism.
So again I ask, what about July 4th?

Are you replacing July 4th, with Juneteenth, and therefore canceling America's Independence day?

Or, will you celebrate both from now on?

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I don't know about you but, July 4th is looking a lot like "round two-ish" for Juneteenth.  Instead of traditional red white and blue, I will be donning black pride paraphernalia.

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  1. UnknownJuly 4, 2020 at 10:09 AM

    Great questions! I usually go all out for holidays because I know in advance that it's coming up and that gives me plenty of time to execute my celebrations plans. Unfortunately, Juneteenth was not something I knew to celebrate until this year. We've been robbed of that knowledge due to systemic racism in the education system. As a result, I was late on the celebration planning for Juneteenth. Therefore, it's a continued celebration leading up until today, 4th of July. This year, I will be cancelling 4th of July in order to continue my Juneteenth celebration. I'm not sure what I will do next year. I will either celebrate both holidays because I am an American who is privileged to be a Black American or I will just celebrate Juneteenth because that one means more to me now. In the hip hop world, we understand that Cardinal B would be where she is today if Mclyte and little Kim didn't pave the way. I'm debating if I should look at these holidays the same way. If 4th of July didn't pave the way, would we have a Juneteenth? Like I said, I'm still trying to gather my thoughts given all this history being thrown at the black culture all at once. In the meantime, we just need to do better at researching our history and sharing the knowledge so we all can be "woke".

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