Senate unanimously passes bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday

[Dashinka 24,497]

6 hours ago, moxy said:

I know it's a favorite right-wing talking point to say Obama was racist (although the far right usually accuses him of being racist against white people, so this is at least a new spin), but you might remember that Republicans controlled the Senate in 2016. Obama wasn't able to get a hearing for a Supreme Court nominee, much less get Juneteenth legislation to his desk.

 

Opal Lee's petition was directed at both Congress and the President btw. So if we're going to hold Obama accountable for not signing Juneteenth into law (which, as mentioned, he Constitutionally could not have done), maybe also also hold then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accountable as well.

 

Having said that, I'm happy that at least one of my right-leaning friends here on VJ are supportive of Juneteenth. Good stuff.

Yep, all Mitch’s fault.  I don’t seem to remember a Democrat controlled House in 2019 through 2021 passing this holiday.

 

On 6/19/2021 at 1:30 PM, yuna628 said:

Online yes. But it appears it didn't take too long for it to show up on VJ as well.

Didn’t see, but Boiler did. mention someone upset about an interview being canceled at the last minute on Friday, so I expect there were complaints.  Personally, I would not have minded the Congress eliminating Columbus Day as a Federal Holiday, and replace it with June 19th.

[Boiler 45,514]

Surely the Dems want to be inclusive so every minority group should have their own holiday.

 

[moxy 1,051]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

Yep, all Mitch’s fault.

 

You must be so fun at parties. I said:

Quote

So if we're going to hold Obama accountable for not signing Juneteenth into law (which, as mentioned, he Constitutionally could not have done), maybe also also hold then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accountable as well.

But ok.

[Dashinka 24,497]

11 hours ago, moxy said:

 

You must be so fun at parties. I said:

But ok.

I am not sure either should be held accountable.  Was there a bill in place passed by the House creating this holiday during the Obama administration that the Senate ignored?

[moxy 1,051]

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

I am not sure either should be held accountable.  Was there a bill in place passed by the House creating this holiday during the Obama administration that the Senate ignored?

This would be easily googled if you really were interested.

 

I do wish Obama would have, and could have, done more to tackle systemic racism. There were many reasons he couldn't, some valid, perhaps some invalid. The point is, it's passed now. This is a win for the whole country, it passed with bipartisan support, and I believe that's what the topic was actually about.

[Dashinka 24,497]

2 hours ago, moxy said:

This would be easily googled if you really were interested.

 

I do wish Obama would have, and could have, done more to tackle systemic racism. There were many reasons he couldn't, some valid, perhaps some invalid. The point is, it's passed now. This is a win for the whole country, it passed with bipartisan support, and I believe that's what the topic was actually about.

I tried searching for the history and the only thing that came up was a bill to recognize June 19th back in 1997.  I cannot find any other bills to make it a federal holiday other than the one that just was passed and signed.  Regardless, it doesn't really matter, what is done is done and it doesn't appear anyone from either Party was out to block it.

[moxy 1,051]

Which is kinda my point. This has been a long time coming, and now it's in the books. Arguably it should have happened years and even decades ago, but it's finally happened. It was a bipartisan vote, the President signed it in to law, and we are a better nation for it.

[Boiler 45,514]

Well before we get too excited lets see if St Davids Day is recognised.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

18 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Yep, all Mitch’s fault.  I don’t seem to remember a Democrat controlled House in 2019 through 2021 passing this holiday.

 

Didn’t see, but Boiler did. mention someone upset about an interview being canceled at the last minute on Friday, so I expect there were complaints.  Personally, I would not have minded the Congress eliminating Columbus Day as a Federal Holiday, and replace it with June 19th.

 

 

[Dashinka 24,497]

1 hour ago, Trompe le Monde said:

 

 

A television show?

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

7 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

A television show?

yes. a television show with a discussion of Columbus Day.

[Dashinka 24,497]

Just now, Trompe le Monde said:

yes. a television show with a discussion of Columbus Day.

Kind of out-dated.  Now if it was a Siberian Peoples Day for recognizing who discovered America (or more specifically the part of NA that became the US) first then it would be fine.  If the folks in the Caribbean want to honor Columbus, fine. 

[moxy 1,051]

The point that is being lost in all this "what about <nationality/race/whatever> day?" talk is that these are not valid comparisons in any way to Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a recognition of the end of slavery in this country. It recognizes the end of a terrible, inhuman practice that had pervaded our country since before its founding. Think less Columbus Day, and more Memorial Day.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

6 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Kind of out-dated.  Now if it was a Siberian Peoples Day for recognizing who discovered America (or more specifically the part of NA that became the US) first then it would be fine.  If the folks in the Caribbean want to honor Columbus, fine. 

Not really the point. It's meant to be funny.

1 minute ago, moxy said:

The point that is being lost in all this "what about <nationality/race/whatever> day?" talk is that these are not valid comparisons in any way to Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a recognition of the end of slavery in this country. It recognizes the end of a terrible, inhuman practice that had pervaded our country since before its founding. Think less Columbus Day, and more Memorial Day.

Agree.

 

At the end of the day, another day off work

[TBoneTX 45,288]

This, and only this, should be our next national holiday:

https://nationaltoday.com/monkey-day/

Note in particular the highly evolved primate mentioned in the second sentence. <<bows>>