Reese Waters -June 19, 2025
"Juneteenth survived DEI but will Juneteenth survive Maga?
Not if Charlie Kirk & CPAC have their way. Juneteenth is the oldest regular
US celebration of the end of slavery. It commemorates June 19, 1865 – the day
that Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and told a
group of slaves that the Civil War had ended and they were free - more than two
years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Yet despite Juneteenth’s status as a federal holiday, celebrations across the country are being scaled back or canceled. Organizers say safety issues along with mounting resistance to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are making it harder to hold events – raising concerns that political backlash is threatening the commemoration of Black freedom at a time when experts say it is most needed. DEI strikes again.
“What we’re seeing – businesses pulling back and universities canceling programs in response to attacks on DEI – shows that many institutions and corporations were never truly committed to diversity and inclusion,” said LaTasha Levy, a professor of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, DC. “We’re not even being honest about what DEI really stands for.”
President Donald Trump tried to take credit for making Juneteenth “very famous,” saying during his first term in 2020 that, “nobody had ever heard of it.” His comments came while the nation was reeling from ongoing civil unrest after George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
But Juneteenth didn’t become an official holiday until 2021, under President Joe Biden’s administration – the first holiday to be approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Experts say this happened in part due to a racial pandemic - with the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Floyd in the same year as the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Since his reelection, Trump has made the elimination of DEI programs a centerpiece of his administration, cracking down on diversity efforts in the federal government with a series of executive orders.
Yet still among Maga there are those feeling left out, so what do they do? They try and take it over and make it about them. Charlie Kirk for one of CPAC and Rep Scott Walker are among those calling for Juneteenth to be more inclusive. Really. Apparently July 4th is down bad, who knew?
#juneteenth #blackjoy #dei #blackpeople #africanamericans
#blackyoutuber #blackcreators"
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a June 19, 2025 Reese Waters vlog entitled "Juneteenth Survived DEI So Maga Tries to Take It Instead".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTt_67VLpbI
This vlog was published as part of Reese Waters' "Racist of the week" series. Reese Waters named "America" as that episode's "racist of the week".
This Reese Water's vlog is published without any comments from me and without any selected comments from that vlog's discussion thread.
That vlog includes an English language auto-generated transcript.
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Reese Waters and all those who are associated with that vlog.
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