I recall when I was re-assigned to USAF-SAM, Brooks JB SA, TX in 1988, the African-American supervisor of the civilians asked me if he/they were going to get "Juneteenth" off.
I answered "What's "Juneteenth"?"

Short answer to the long running question?

I used to get Christmas Eve off at work. Now Christmas Eve is no longer viewed as a holiday, but Juneteenth is. I'd rather have Christmas Eve.

Nothing changed about Juneteenth to somehow make it a federal holiday 155 years later.

Call it selfish, but employers didn't just start giving an extra day off because the federal government recognized another holiday.

I don't celebrate fake concepts such as juneteenth, pride month, black history month, kwanzaa, festivus, Kunta Kinte day, ramadan, or any number of other crazy notional holidays.

I don't care if other people do but the insistence that I/others join them is just silly to me.

I support celebrating it the same as St Patrick's day, Valentines Day, Cinco de Mayo, etc

No, you don't get a day off work unless you use your PTO or flex day for if.

However, everyone is encouraged to participate in unique traditions that day. In this case, traditional southern food should be theme.

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I don't celebrate fake concepts such as juneteenth, pride month, black history month, kwanzaa, festivus, Kunta Kinte day, ramadan, or any number of other crazy notional holidays.

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This used to be the way juneteenth was done. All the black guys where I worked in the 80's just took a sick day and came in on the 20th hung over and borderline worthless. Everybody else just worked around it.

agent-maroon said:

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I don't celebrate fake concepts such as juneteenth, pride month, black history month, kwanzaa, festivus, Kunta Kinte day, ramadan, or any number of other crazy notional holidays.

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This used to be the way juneteenth was done. All the black guys where I worked in the 80's just took a sick day and came in on the 20th hung over and borderline worthless. Everybody else just worked around it.

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I remember the first time I heard about Juneteenth was in the '80s when a couple of guys were discussing celebrating it the next day. They explained what it was. It wasn't a big deal, it was 'their' holiday, no different to me than some people celebrating faith days for their religion.

Making it a national federal holiday is akin to making Purim a federal holiday.

Rexter said:

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Juneteenth is just the day that slaves in Texas were notified of the Emancipation Proclamation. There is no reason for a holiday. There is no reason to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation either, as that only freed slaves in 10 states. A better day, should it be necessary for a celebration, would be the day that the 14th Amendment was ratified.

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Growing up there were people in my neighborhood that celebrated because their families were freed that day. There is a reason for a holiday for those families but I have to think that's still pretty local to Houston and Galveston, and if anyone was still on the island they likely died in the storm of 1900.

Jmooring said:

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Indentured slaves absolutely built this country. We need a holiday.

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No they didn't. This country wasn't "built" by labor working on farms. It was built by Western values and risk takers. Black slaves didn't build the country anymore than migrant workers working on farms do today.

Nobody supports slavery. However, black Americans today enjoy the highest standard of living of black people anywhere in the world. Most of them wouldn't be here had their ancestors not been sold (by black African tribes where their ancestors were already slaves) to colonists coming here. They'd be slaves today in impoverished African hellholes or free in those same backward places.

Slavery isn't a stain on our country - it was the way of the world in those days. It's always strange to watch people make judgments like that in hindsight.

Backyard Gator said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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surfandturfsbisa96 said:

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I always try to explain to people (from a historical perspective) that Juneteenth was a Texas thing and shouldn't be a national thing but nobody cares.

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If they want to celebrate more Texas Holidays as National Holidays, I'm OK with that.
March 2nd, April 21st, maybe LBJ's Birthday.

I've got friends who have been surprised to find out about Confederate Heroes Day during the past few years.

The most amazing fact is sometimes MLK Day and Confederate Heroes Day fall on the same day in January.

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Traitor Heroes Day?

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It is simply a coincidence that Robert E. Lee's birthday is January 19th and MLK's birthday is January 15th. Confederate Heroes Day is still a state holiday and some state employees are allowed to use it as a floating holiday. When my father moved to Texas in 1946, he had never heard of Confederate Heroes Day, but banks were closed, school was out and there were parades.

CanyonAg77 said:

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The assertion that the Emancipation Proclamation did not free any slaves is a misguided narrative. Such claims are unfounded and reflect a distorted interpretation of history.

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At the time of its passing, the EP freed no slaves. It only freed slaves in states in rebellion, none of which recognized its authority. Slaves in Maryland and Kentucky were not freed.

However, as Union troops pushed into the South, they did free slaves in the areas they controlled.

Which is why Juneteenth is a thing. Took until June 19, 1865, for Union forces to have control of Texas

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That is partially true. Most slaves in the occupied portions of the South were not freed by Union troops during the war and that included the border states and the portions of Southern States under Union control (e.g. Tennessee, Virginia and Louisiana). Slaves that were freed or escaped had nowhere to go for food and shelter, so many remained on plantations. Many black men in Occupied Louisiana resorted to robbing and stealing for survival. "Fire in the Cane Field"--Donald S. Frazier

It is probably not helpful to frame the issue as ending on a specific second and minute and hour and day.

Slavery was dying in the United States and the Western World starting in the 1700s.

Confederate slaveowners could barely feed themselves towards the end of the war and were often on the wrong side of their slaves revolting violently or just leaving without asking questions, sabotaging things on the way out, and often joining up with the Union Army and coming back to kill more Confederates. There was no alternate path at the end of the war where they could just patch things together and go back to status quo antebellum.

I have read so many good books on the braindead fiscal and economic policies of the confederate states and the general uselessness of the confederate government office itself. The southern leaders were long on pride and spirit and very short on smarts, wealth, and cooperative planning and the basically own goaled themselves.

So the passage of the 13th Amendment was just the piece of paper memorializing what had already been underway many decades.

This thread went exactly as expected.

aggiehawg said:

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I am 67. This whole thread has me scratching my head because growing up in Texas, I always knew about Juneteenth as a Texas black celebration.

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Dittos. I'm 73 and have lived in central Texas my entire life. I've known about Juneteenth since before I can remember.

I don't celebrate a lot of "holidays" like Juneteenth, Kwanzaa, Cinco de Mayo, Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, and over a dozen others.

52 years old here. I remember knowing about June "teenth" as a day you didn't go to Six Flags.

Martin Cash said:

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aggiehawg said:

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I am 67. This whole thread has me scratching my head because growing up in Texas, I always knew about Juneteenth as a Texas black celebration.

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Dittos. I'm 73 and have lived in central Texas my entire life. I've known about Juneteenth since before I can remember.

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Damn, you make my mid-50s self feel young AF(!). I look forward to being your age and still hanging out in F16 with the rest of whoever is left of we OG F16ers.

And, yeah, like you, I've known about this holiday as far back as I can remember as well.

one safe place said:

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I don't celebrate a lot of "holidays" like Juneteenth, Kwanzaa, Cinco de Mayo, Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, and over a dozen others.

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Same.

I celebrate Halloween, the 4th, and that's about it. On occasion, Christmas, but that's only those times when I'm with family. And that's about it, and only cause those days are filled with fun and kids at their best.

samurai_science said:

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Unknown_handle said:

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June 19th is the day that many black Americans at a minimum commemorate as an important date in their history. So why do not blacks seem to feel the need to inject your opinion were it is neither wanted or welcome.

I suggest that we learn to love people where they are and not whate you want them to be.

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Do the ancestors of the thousands of black southern slave owners also celebrate?

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They vote in our elections, so I'm assuming they do.

It is a fake holiday right up there with Fathers and Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, MLK Day, and half a dozen more. If it does not celebrate everyone, or is ginned up to sell cards, candy and flowers, I say bin it.

No Spin Ag said:

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one safe place said:

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I don't celebrate a lot of "holidays" like Juneteenth, Kwanzaa, Cinco de Mayo, Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, and over a dozen others.

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Same.

I celebrate Halloween, the 4th, and that's about it. On occasion, Christmas, but that's only those times when I'm with family. And that's about it, and only cause those days are filled with fun and kids at their best.

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Good on you as to days filled with fun and kids. We have 8 grandchildren, from a recent A&M graduate to a just turned one year old. Almost every day is a holiday since we generally see 1 to 4 of them almost every day.

Signel said:

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Who says you can't BBQ on juneteenth and 4th of July? I'm fine with adding a bunch of bs federal holidays that everyone gets to spend time with family and friends.

win/win

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My lily white arse has bbqed on MLK, Juneteenth and July 4th since I was a child. Being a native of Galveston County, Juneteenth has been around.

I also have mexican food on May 5th and another day in September. Green beer and potatoes on March 17th.

What I won't do is celebrate Ramadan. No way in hell will eat during their little holy days. I am sure whatever they serve is nasty!

Every day is a holiday to a retired person.

I have a hard time not going into establishments and bothering people that are working.

Slavery happened way before my time not my sin, idc I won't celebrate this.

Jarrin Jay said:

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It's a fake holiday that had no impact on slavery, and neither did the "emancipation proclamation".

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…many citizens fought and died defeating the Confederacy and therefore defeating slavery.

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Not one Union soldier fought to end slavery, that is a complete myth. If ending slavery was a (not even the) goal and reason to fight the war, the Union would not have been able to field an army.

Obviously slavery was an evil and good that it ended. Decisions made after the 13th amendment were largely poor and politically motivated, starting with the 14th Amendment.

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nm

Jack Boyette said:

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Jmooring said:

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Indentured slaves absolutely built this country. We need a holiday.

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No they didn't. This country wasn't "built" by labor working on farms. It was built by Western values and risk takers. Black slaves didn't build the country anymore than migrant workers working on farms do today.

Nobody supports slavery. However, black Americans today enjoy the highest standard of living of black people anywhere in the world. Most of them wouldn't be here had their ancestors not been sold (by black African tribes where their ancestors were already slaves) to colonists coming here. They'd be slaves today in impoverished African hellholes or free in those same backward places.

Slavery isn't a stain on our country - it was the way of the world in those days. It's always strange to watch people make judgments like that in hindsight.

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The Irish and Chinese would like a word with you, but yes I agree with you. I always laugh when black people say they built this country because their ancestors picked cotton.

This is true. pic.twitter.com/KWnutCoMcG

— Cody Libolt (@CodyLibolt) June 24, 2026

The_Waco_Kid said:

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The Emancipation Proclamation didn't free a single slave - it announced emancipation of Confederate slaves, and those states didn't recognize the Union laws.

Announcing that Texan slaves were free in the eyes of the Union didn't free a single slave under the recognized state and Confederate laws of the time. Slaves were freed bit by bit under martial law and I'm Reconstruction.

Making a state day a Federal Holiday is only pandering. IMO, Juneteenth should be recognized like St. Patrick's Day or Cinco de Mayo - a celebration of a culture. It shouldn't be recognized like Thanksgiving or July 4. If anything, January 1, 1863 should be celebrated as Emancipation Day. Not June 19, 1865.

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By the same logic, we should not be celebrating July 4 as Independence Day. That's the date written atop the Declaration of Independence, not the actual achievement of independence. The Treaty of Paris wasn't signed until September 3, 1783.

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Slavery isn't a stain on our country - it was the way of the world in those days. It's always strange to watch people make judgments like that in hindsight.

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There are countless barbaric practices that were "the way of the world" and time passing does not make them any less worthy of condemnation. Human sacrifice was the way of the world in many ancient cultures. I don't think anyone views that as a good thing because that is just how the Mongols or Ancient Egyptians or Mesoamericans rolled back then. Slavery is a stain on all of the world's history and still is to this day.

But interesting trivia of the 13th Amendment, Mississippi never ratified the amendment on the state level and rejected doing so up until 1995 and even then the secretary of state failed to forward the paperwork to the US archivist as required. Apparently two professors at Ole Miss dug into the history after watching the movie Lincoln and discovered the clerical oversight. So the last state to ratify was in 2013.

Kentucky was the other foot-dragger, not ratifying until 1976.

It didn't really matter for amendment purposes as the required 27 of 36 states ratified by December of the year of the proposed amendment.

Man, I'm 52 but I'm guess I'm the only native Texan on here who has zero recollection of Juneteenth being a thing at all growing up. First time I heard about it being a "holiday" was a couple of years ago when the talk of making it national became a thing.

Maybe I've just forgotten about it over the years.

Windy City Ag said:

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It is probably not helpful to frame the issue as ending on a specific second and minute and hour and day.

Slavery was dying in the United States and the Western World starting in the 1700s.

Confederate slaveowners could barely feed themselves towards the end of the war and were often on the wrong side of their slaves revolting violently or just leaving without asking questions, sabotaging things on the way out, and often joining up with the Union Army and coming back to kill more Confederates. There was no alternate path at the end of the war where they could just patch things together and go back to status quo antebellum.

I have read so many good books on the braindead fiscal and economic policies of the confederate states and the general uselessness of the confederate government office itself. The southern leaders were long on pride and spirit and very short on smarts, wealth, and cooperative planning and the basically own goaled themselves.

So the passage of the 13th Amendment was just the piece of paper memorializing what had already been underway many decades.

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Don't forget the fact that the North benefited from that slave labor.

By the way, the North's cause wasn't some noble undertaking. They didn't give a damn about slaves or black people, just like they didn't care about the Irish or other immigrants who basically worked for free coming through Ellis Island. Northerners weren't voluntarily enlisting in the military to help black people, who they treated like dirt. They did it because they were manipulated into believing it was necessary to "save the country." It wasn't.

YouBet said:

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Man, I'm 52 but I'm guess I'm the only native Texan on here who has zero recollection of Juneteenth being a thing at all growing up. First time I heard about it being a "holiday" was a couple of years ago when the talk of making it national became a thing.

Maybe I've just forgotten about it over the years.

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I grew up in west Texas, so I'm in the same boat. Never heard about June 19th historically, but May 5th...

DCPD158 said:

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YouBet said:

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Man, I'm 52 but I'm guess I'm the only native Texan on here who has zero recollection of Juneteenth being a thing at all growing up. First time I heard about it being a "holiday" was a couple of years ago when the talk of making it national became a thing.

Maybe I've just forgotten about it over the years.

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I grew up in west Texas, so I'm in the same boat. Never heard about June 19th historically, but May 5th...

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Well, I grew up in east Texas with large population of blacks. No clue about it.

DCPD158 said:

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YouBet said:

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Man, I'm 52 but I'm guess I'm the only native Texan on here who has zero recollection of Juneteenth being a thing at all growing up. First time I heard about it being a "holiday" was a couple of years ago when the talk of making it national became a thing.

Maybe I've just forgotten about it over the years.

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I grew up in west Texas, so I'm in the same boat. Never heard about June 19th historically, but May 5th...

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https://instagr.am/p/DZveBamDBYc

It's not the same. Even with the Emancipation Proclamation in full force and effect, it did not free slaves in (1) the north, (2) the border states, (3) those portions of confederate states already occupied by federal troops, and (4) those places not controlled by federal troops.

Again, it was a strategic declaration to keep Britain (and to lesser degree, France) on the sideline and a sop to appease the radical element of Lincoln's own party that was in control of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War ("JCCW"). The JCCW was so powerful that it even went after Mary Todd Lincoln as a potential traitor, until President Lincoln showed up in person to a hearing to vouch for his wife's loyalty. The EP had the added benefit of boosting federal military labor manpower (and to some extent, troop count).

The 13th Amendment is laudatory. The EP was just cynical political maneuvering.

Rexter said:

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Juneteenth is just the day that slaves in Texas were notified of the Emancipation Proclamation. There is no reason for a holiday. There is no reason to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation either, as that only freed slaves in 10 states. A better day, should it be necessary for a celebration, would be the day that the 14th Amendment was ratified.

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The Feds needed a Federal Holiday in June. That's why it was chosen over other possibilities.