Surprise! Another Federal Holiday

I woke up last Monday morning and went to the door to get my newspaper as usual. No newspaper. Later I checked for the mail. No mail. What's going on here? Well, silly me, I totally forgot that Monday was Juneteenth, a newfederal holidaycommemorating the emancipation ofblacks. Not being black myself, it just wasn't foremost on my mind. I hope that doesn't mean I'm a racist. I certainly didn't know it was a major federal holiday, like Christmas and the 4th of July.

I checked out the origins of Juneteenth and found that it marks the anniversary of the announcement ofGeneral Order No.3byUnion ArmygeneralGordon Grangeron June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for enslaved people inTexas. It originated inGalveston, Texas and since then the day has been celebrated each year on June 19 in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebratingblack culture.

The day was first recognized as a federal holiday last year, in June 2021, when Joe Bidensigned theJuneteenth National Independence Day Actinto law. That's right, the holiday is officially called Juneteenth National Independence Day. So in June we have a separate Independence Day for blacks, and the next month we have an Independence Day for the rest of us. Get it?

Some thoughts on this. Aside from the fact that federal employees love three day holidays, could it possibly be that declaring June 19th as a federal holiday is yet another condescending attempt for Democrats to mollify blacks? I'm sure most normal, clear thinking Americans believe that the emancipation of the blacks in this country following the Civil War was a wonderful thing and long overdue. But making it a federal holiday, especially in the wake of the racial rioting and looting that took place across the country a couple of years ago has more than a faint smell of political patronizing and pandering.

A few questions come to mind.

As far as recognizing the "black culture and heritage," don't we already do that for the entire month of February? It's called Black History Month. Blacks as a people are also recognized on Martin Luther King's Federal Holiday in January. And black history is taught and celebrated in public schools and universities all over the country.

But the Dems have clearly dropped the ball. How did they miss giving Harriet Tubman a federal holiday? Or declaring a Rosa Parks Heritage Month? Why hasn't Kwanza been made a federal holiday? How long will it be before we have a George Floyd national holiday? And why is the day itself, June 19th, called "Juneteenth?" A made up word. We say July 4th, why not say Jun 19th? I'm sorry, but the word "Juneteenth" sounds ignorant to me.

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So where will the pandering of the "oppressed groups and marginalized communities" stop? What's next? Will there soon be a federal holiday on June 26th to be called "Queerteenth?" That was the day in 2015 that the Supreme Court legalized same sex marriages. And I'm surprised that January 22nd hasn't been officially declared National Uterus Independence Day in honor of the Roe v Wade legalized abortion decision. We need a special day to celebrate our transgendered friends. The day and month will, of course, change each year depending on the mood of the celebrants.

How come we don't yet have a national day of celebration for the freeing of the inmates of the Japanese internment camps? Call it "Japanteenth." And why isn't there a national day called "Sticking it to the White Devil" to be celebrated on the anniversary of the Little Big Horn?

But don't forget the best one of all, "National Making America a Third World Toilet Bowl Day" to be celebrated on Joe Biden's inauguration day. Don't laugh. It may not be called that by name, but there are many morons on the left that celebrate it just the same.

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