Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #JUNETEENTH
Most recents (24)
When a politician posts a piece of nonsense about #ushistory and #slavery on #Juneteenth, I do not RT it.
But we must set the record straight. Slavery in America was entwined with Christianity from the outset and to claim otherwise obliterates the facts. #1 of 14
#sschat
But we must set the record straight. Slavery in America was entwined with Christianity from the outset and to claim otherwise obliterates the facts. #1 of 14
#sschat
African slavery in the Americas began in 1517 when the Spanish priest de Las Casas advocated importing Africans to replace the enslaved indigenous people who were dying in large numbers. He later regretted this recommendation. origins.osu.edu/milestones/jul… #2 of 14
The English later came to dominate the African Triangle Trade and, like the Spanish and Portuguese, justified the slave trade with missionary zeal as bringing "salvation" to these "heathens." #3 of 14
Why the Right Has a Problem with Juneteenth
Reactionaries who oppose #Juneteenth insist they have a right to define the nation’s story and identity. They are the political, ideological, and spiritual descendants of the Confederacy - and they dominate today’s Republican Party.
Reactionaries who oppose #Juneteenth insist they have a right to define the nation’s story and identity. They are the political, ideological, and spiritual descendants of the Confederacy - and they dominate today’s Republican Party.
Many Republicans who voted for the Juneteenth bill in 2021 are all in on demonizing anything that questions a white nationalist understanding of America’s past or present, and few people who identify as conservative are in favor of teaching Juneteenth in schools. 2/
Rightwingers assume that “the Left” elevated Juneteenth to the status of a national holiday purely to humiliate America, divide the country by race, and as GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale put it, convince people “that our country is evil” in order to destroy America from within. 3/
1/10: This #Juneteenth, we confront a horrific but essential part of American history:
The brutal exploitation of enslaved Africans, whose unpaid labor fueled the rise of the United States as an economic powerhouse. #BlackHistoryIsAmericanHistory
The brutal exploitation of enslaved Africans, whose unpaid labor fueled the rise of the United States as an economic powerhouse. #BlackHistoryIsAmericanHistory
2/10: From the early 1600s, millions of African people were forcibly brought to the U.S. and exploited for their labor.
They were the engine that powered America’s rise as an agrarian economy, particularly in the South. #slavery
They were the engine that powered America’s rise as an agrarian economy, particularly in the South. #slavery
3/10: Enslaved Africans were integral to lucrative industries such as tobacco, indigo, and rice in the 17th & 18th centuries.
However, it was the cotton industry in the 19th century that turned the U.S. into an economic colossus. #EconomicHistory
However, it was the cotton industry in the 19th century that turned the U.S. into an economic colossus. #EconomicHistory
Charlie Kirk is one of the silliest people on the Right - it’s a devastating indictment of the conservative movement that he’s one of its leading activists. His raging against #Juneteenth, however, is interestingly revealing - as it channels the reactionary worldview perfectly.
I wrote about this in my newsletter today:
Reactionaries who oppose Juneteenth are the political, ideological, and spiritual descendants of those who were defeated in 1865. They dominate today’s Republican Party.
Why the Right Has a Problem with #Juneteenth:
Reactionaries who oppose Juneteenth are the political, ideological, and spiritual descendants of those who were defeated in 1865. They dominate today’s Republican Party.
Why the Right Has a Problem with #Juneteenth:
There is a direct line from those who fought for their right to enslave others in the name of “freedom” to today’s reactionaries who insist they have a right to define the national story and American identity in a way that upholds discriminatory traditional hierarchies.
As we celebrate #Juneteenth, let us keep in mind that African Americans during the Civil War distinguished between *abolishing slavery* and *freeing people.* Many formerly enslaved people did not feel *free* in 1865 and thereafter, and they clearly articulated why. A thread 1/
On January 12, 1865, General William T. Sherman met with twenty Black leaders in Savannah, Georgia, over the future of African Americans in the area. These African Americans gave this Union general a crash course on their definitions of slavery and freedom. 2/
Slavery meant “receiving by irresistible power the work of another man, and not by his consent,” said the group’s spokesman, Garrison Frazier. Freedom was “placing us where we could reap the fruit of our own labor.” To accomplish this—to be truly free—we must “have land.” 3/
Why the Right Has a Problem with #Juneteenth
Reactionaries who oppose Juneteenth are the political, ideological, and spiritual descendants of those who were defeated in 1865. They dominate today’s Republican Party.
New Democracy Americana:
Reactionaries who oppose Juneteenth are the political, ideological, and spiritual descendants of those who were defeated in 1865. They dominate today’s Republican Party.
New Democracy Americana:
I wrote about the direct line from those who fought for their right to enslave others in the name of “freedom” to today’s reactionaries who insist they have a right to define the national story and American identity in a way that upholds discriminatory traditional hierarchies.
I also reflect on how the Right’s critique of Juneteenth and insistence on a white nationalist version of U.S. history compares to the German struggle to work through the Nazi past - and specifically the struggle to establish May 8, 1945 as a Day of Liberation rather than defeat.
Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19th, marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free. This came two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. and celebrates African American culture.
Traditionally, Juneteenth celebrations include parades, picnics, and barbecues. Families and communities come together to share in food and music that reflect their heritage. Educational events focus on the history and achievements of Black Americans.
In 2021, Juneteenth became a federal holiday, an important step in acknowledging its historical significance. This official recognition encourages wider celebration and education about the contributions and experiences of African Americans.
Some inconvenient #Juneteenth facts
1) The Emancipation Proclamation was designed to help Lincoln win the Civil War, not end slavery (it specifically "excepted" Union states & southern states then under Union control)
1) The Emancipation Proclamation was designed to help Lincoln win the Civil War, not end slavery (it specifically "excepted" Union states & southern states then under Union control)
2) The Emancipation Proclamation, which came two years into the war, was designed to deter Britain from coming to the aid of the Confederacy, as they had been considering (the ploy worked)
3) "[The Emancipation Proclamation] was necessary to put the South at a moral disadvantage by transforming the contest from a war waged against states fighting for their independence, into a war against States fighting for the maintenance and extension of slavery, by making some… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
On this day in 1865, enslaved people in Texas were notified by Union Civil War soldiers about the abolition of slavery. This was 2.5 years after the final Emancipation Proclamation which freed all enslaved Black Americans. #Juneteenth
But Slavery continued…
A THREAD
But Slavery continued…
A THREAD
In 1866, a year after the amendment was ratified, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor.
This made the business of arresting black people very lucrative, thus hundreds of white men were hired by these states as police officers.
Their primary responsibility being to search out and arrest black peoples who were in violation of ‘Black Codes’
Their primary responsibility being to search out and arrest black peoples who were in violation of ‘Black Codes’
I get that #Juneteenth is a relatively new holiday for most people in the US. And the non-Blacks in my area are tripping a bit about how to approach it. So here are a few tips.
1. Don’t act like it doesn’t exist. Honor it the way you do other federal holidays. That means cancelling activities & meetings that can be cancelled.
2. Resist the urge to yell “Happy Juneteenth” to every Black person you encounter. Some of us are still figuring out how to feel about this.
 On Saturday, June 19, 1865, in Limestone County, Texas, plantation owner Logan Stroud stood on the front porch of this house to tell more than 150 of his enslaved workers that they were free.
Photo from @librarycongress collection. blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2020/… #Juneteenth2023
🧵
Photo from @librarycongress collection. blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2020/… #Juneteenth2023
🧵

Billy McCrea who was enslaved remembered the Union troops coming into Texas in 1865 and being told that he was free. blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/… #Juneteenth2023
Billy McCrea who was enslaved remembered the Union troops coming into Texas in 1865 and being told that he was free. blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/… #Juneteenth2023
Betty Bormer, who was freed by the military order that founded Juneteenth.
#Juneteenth2023
blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/06/th…
#Juneteenth2023
blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/06/th…
Randi Weingarten did more to increase the economic disparities among Black Americans than any human living today.
nationalreview.com/corner/teacher…
In honor of #Juneteenth I'll post all the evidence of this thread.
nationalreview.com/corner/teacher…
In honor of #Juneteenth I'll post all the evidence of this thread.
December 2020
"When Covid-19 closed schools, Black, Hispanic and poor kids took biggest hit in math, reading"
nbcnews.com/news/education…
"When Covid-19 closed schools, Black, Hispanic and poor kids took biggest hit in math, reading"
nbcnews.com/news/education…
February 2021
Keeping schools closed hurts minority, low-income children the most
nypost.com/2021/02/18/kee…
Keeping schools closed hurts minority, low-income children the most
nypost.com/2021/02/18/kee…
Today is #Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
Related words from James A. Garfield…
“We began the war for the Union alone, but we had not gone far into its darkness before a new element was added to the conflict...In lessons that
1/6
Related words from James A. Garfield…
“We began the war for the Union alone, but we had not gone far into its darkness before a new element was added to the conflict...In lessons that
1/6
could not be misunderstood, the Nation was taught that God had linked to our own, the destiny of an enslaved race-that their liberty & our Union were indeed 'one & inseparable'...The soil beneath our feet was watered by the tears of slaves, in whose hearts the sight of
2/6
2/6
yonder proud Capitol awakened no pride and inspired no hope. But, thanks be to God, this arena of rebellion and slavery is a scene of violence and crime no longer!" ~1868 in @ArlingtonNatl.
“Soon after the great struggle began, we looked behind the army of white rebels, and
3/6
“Soon after the great struggle began, we looked behind the army of white rebels, and
3/6
#Juneteenth is an important holiday that commemorates the freedom of enslaved people in the US country. #FreedomToLearn
This year, Juneteenth arrives at a time when the knowledge of our ancestors and Black studies is under attack across the nation. #FreedomToLearn
As we celebrate our ancestors quest to liberation, we must also continue the fight by defending our #FreedomToLearn. Visit freedomtolearn.net for more info.
a #Juneteenth reminder that the enslaved people in Texas were not the last people to receive the news about their freedom. Thousands of Black people didn’t know they were free, or knew they were free and their owners forced them to stay. Black people were kidnapped and abandoned
literally locked up and sleeping in jails and prisons across the south for years following “emancipation”. Disabled slaves particularly were left behind in bondage and suffered further exploitation by being sold and hidden between networks. Children, too.
i just don’t want the “from Juneteenth to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson” narratives to obscure the historical and ongoing violence from slavery
We honor the resilience of Black Arkansans like Isaac Galloway, who fought for their freedom during the Civil War. His bravery and determination laid the foundation for progress in our state, though we still have much work to do towards true equality and justice. #Juneteenth
Isaac Galloway, born into slavery in Arkansas, gained his freedom during the Civil War by aiding Union troops. After the war, he became an advocate for civil rights and education, serving in Arkansas' Constitutional Convention of 1868.
Galloway also organized and served as a delegate to the state's first Republican convention. His bravery and advocacy for justice and equality paved the way for future generations of Black Arkansans. His contributions to Arkansas' history remain relevant today.
Today we remember the horrific Elaine Massacre of 1919, where over 200 Black lives were brutally taken. As we celebrate #Juneteenth, let us not forget the systemic oppression that still exists in Arkansas and the parallels to our current political landscape. #ElaineMassacre
The Elaine Massacre is a tragic event in American history, where African American sharecroppers in Phillips County formed a union to fight for better working conditions and fair wages, which led to a violent backlash from white authorities.
This event further highlights the systemic oppression that existed against Black communities in the past and how that oppression has evolved over time.
Today is the last day of #BlackHistoryMonth.
#FortBendCounty #Texas is home to a breadth of important Black history—and underrecognized history-makers.
Today, I rise to recognize #BenjaminFranklinWilliams, one of Fort Bend's first Black civic leaders.
(thread)
#FortBendCounty #Texas is home to a breadth of important Black history—and underrecognized history-makers.
Today, I rise to recognize #BenjaminFranklinWilliams, one of Fort Bend's first Black civic leaders.
(thread)
Williams (1819–1886) was born into slavery. As part of the slave trade, he was repeatedly uprooted and relocated across the southern United States, until reaching the Texas gulf coast region in 1859.
Here, Williams became involved in politics and quickly ascended as a formidable political leader – not just for his community, but for the entire state.
He served as vice-president of the Loyal Union League, a pro-Lincoln organization that mobilized Blacks and Unionists.
He served as vice-president of the Loyal Union League, a pro-Lincoln organization that mobilized Blacks and Unionists.
1/ 2021 - Glen Youngkin gets elected Governor of Virginia running on critical race theory. #GlennYoungkin #CRT #Virginia
2/ On his first day in office, Youngkin signs an executive order banning the teaching of #CRT in #Virginia and sets up a hotline for parents to report it. #GovernorVA #Virginia
3/ All this when #CRT was not even being taught and #Virginia schools and the hotline was quietly shut down for lack of tips. #GovernorVA #Virginia businessinsider.com/virginia-gover…
Spent a while working on a story about the history of Allensworth and Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park...
Here's a lil 🧵 on the background + images that didn't make it into the final story.
It started with listening to California's #reparations task force #CRTF🛤️
Here's a lil 🧵 on the background + images that didn't make it into the final story.
It started with listening to California's #reparations task force #CRTF🛤️
Last October @terrancedean provided expert testimony to the task force. He talked about Allensworth.
"In essence, it was a shining example of Black self-sufficiency and prosperity," he said.
Full testimony here:
"In essence, it was a shining example of Black self-sufficiency and prosperity," he said.
Full testimony here:
Then I kept hearing state Sen. @SteveBradford mention Allensworth. And I was wondering... what is the deal?
I dug into some history.
I dug into some history.
Thread
When a Republican says "The US is a republic, not a democracy" they are just trying to avoid having to answer for their abandonment of the lawful democratic practices that used to be valued and agreed to by both sides.
Here's how the brainwashing works:
When a Republican says "The US is a republic, not a democracy" they are just trying to avoid having to answer for their abandonment of the lawful democratic practices that used to be valued and agreed to by both sides.
Here's how the brainwashing works:
Until relatively recently, the Republican party's position was that the US is a democratic country, as opposed to one ruled by a military junta, absolute monarchy, or an actual communist party.
Direct democracy means that all decisions are made by voters. That's unworkable...
Direct democracy means that all decisions are made by voters. That's unworkable...
Most of the industrialized countries of the world are representative democracies.
That means that voters elect representatives to represent their general views when decisions need to be made.
A version of the democratic process is used to elect those representatives.
That means that voters elect representatives to represent their general views when decisions need to be made.
A version of the democratic process is used to elect those representatives.
When will we admit that “clash of civilizations” of Islamophobia narrative is not only false but dangerous. “War on Terror”=waging war vs Muslims but #J6 & #BuffaloMassacre reveal terror is not one religion. When Muslims are “legit” targets…that supremacist hate spreads further.
Who was it “okay” to torture? (assumed is a terrorist?) Whose civil liberties disappeared 20 years ago? Muslims.
“But you all ‘deserve’ it” we’ve heard &: Why didn’t you stop terrorism? Why haven’t you apologized about x & y?
Now: consequences of that
vox.com/2016/3/31/1133…
“But you all ‘deserve’ it” we’ve heard &: Why didn’t you stop terrorism? Why haven’t you apologized about x & y?
Now: consequences of that
vox.com/2016/3/31/1133…
The “Great Replacement” is an extension of “Clash of Civilizations” that conflict/war is “inevitable” between “different” humans defined by race or religion. It dehumanizes some humans as “less than” or “threat.” Once you label as such, violence follows. vox.com/science-and-he…
I’m going to say this, not to be pedantic, but because I’m seeing and hearing people get it wrong.
#EmancipationDay is a celebration of when the slaves were freed. ❌WRONG
The 13th Amendment made slavery illegal in the U.S (with a caveat). ✅CORRECT
#Juneteenth is the
#EmancipationDay is a celebration of when the slaves were freed. ❌WRONG
The 13th Amendment made slavery illegal in the U.S (with a caveat). ✅CORRECT
#Juneteenth is the
celebration of when the last REMAINING slaves in the REBEL state of Texas were told they were free. Too many people incorrectly believe Abraham Lincoln’s Executive Order, the Proclamation 95 freed all the slaves. It did not. The Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in
seceding states. June 19, 1865 - 2.5 years after the Order took effect, the enslaves people in Galveston, TX were told they were free. This is important, because if people get this wrong, they will believe something that’s not correct about our country’s history. Why is that
As a follow up to yesterday’s #Juneteenth thread, here’s a 🧵about the time Abe Lincoln made a distributist 🐄 argument against slaveholders and secession.
You may have seen these words before. Everybody from conventional progressives to socialists like this quote. We’ve posted it before ourselves.
But there’s more to the context than most people make out, and it still matters to us today.
But there’s more to the context than most people make out, and it still matters to us today.
Lincoln made this statement shortly after the Civil War began. He was responding to arguments that the South–and in particular its slaveholding planters–had the right to form a new government to represent the interests of “capital” that the prosperity of the country depended on.
