Happy Juneteenth
John H. Robertson, American Renaissance, June 18, 2023
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Happy Juneteenth. More precisely, happy Juneteenth National Independence Day. It’s not just Juneteenth. Nor is it Juneteenth Emancipation Day.
But “independence” from what? There is no “independence” to commemorate here, so I can think of only one reason for the name — to position itself in opposition to that other “Independence Day” that happens in just two weeks. The name implies that the “true” national independence day is the one in June. It seems beyond question that this choice of names is quite deliberate, to draw focus away from the birth of our country, away from patriotism, and away from national pride, to focus instead on shame, contention, and racial strife.
As a practical matter, will employers want to give their employees off on both of these “independence days” to celebrate a unified national identity? Not likely. This will force them to choose between competing “independence days” (and indeed competing national identities). The woke people will celebrate one, while the conservatives celebrate the other, which will deepen the chasm that divides us.
If an employer is seen as slighting the new privileged classes by not adequately honoring “Juneteenth National Independence Day,” will the supremacist classes extract revenge, counting on conservatives to remain silent? I have no doubt that merchants, news media, sports franchises, and advertising agencies will all line up behind the “National Independence Day,” turning away from our foundational remembrance day.
And what about public celebrations of “Independence” day in Boston, Washington DC, and Main Street? Is there room for two mid-summer celebrations just two weeks apart from each other? No. There will be neither time nor budget to celebrate both — towns will have to decide which. How long until celebrating the “wrong” day will be considered “hateful”?
March in celebration of Juneteenth, in West Philadelphia on June 19, 2021. (Credit Image: © Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)
Either July 4th will become completely usurped by Juneteenth, or the two will be mashed up together, like Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s birthday being combined into “Presidents’ Day” (which honored neither). Once we no longer celebrated our national heroes, this effete combined holiday was easily replaced by Martin Luther King day.
No culture can survive without traditions and remembrances. On the day following the passage of the legislation establishing the new Juneteenth National Independence Day, there were already calls to replace the American flag with a new “more inclusive” flag to distance ourselves from the hateful symbolism of our current flag.
I see the conquerors’ banners (rainbow flags, black fist flags, etc.) hoisted in gloating victory over public buildings. I see anti-American propaganda taught not only in our schools, but in institutions public and private, and to our active military. I see national sovereignty (and national borders) abandoned as obsolete, “hateful,” and “on the wrong side of history.” History is written by the victors, and the new histories being taught to our children clearly show who the victors are.
What has happened to our country? How did we allow it to fall? How did we allow the enemies of our culture, enemies of our history, enemies of freedom, enemies of even something as foundational as equality under the law, to gain a victory over us, without us even having a chance to voice opposition to our unconditional surrender?
