D.L. Hughley is among the descendants of slaves in America who are side-eyeing Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday.
The comedian is among Black Americans who are on the fence about how swiftly Juneteenth became a federal holiday.
Juneteenth celebrates the day slaves in Galveston, Texas learned they were free – two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862.
Most Black people outside of Texas had never heard of Juneteenth until President Donald Trump decided to hold a rally on that same day last year.
Trump later changed the date of his rally, saying, “I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous.”
Semi-retired singer Beyonce quickly recorded a track – “Black Parade” – to capitalize on the controversy.
The very next year, Juneteenth became a federal holiday, leaving most people Googling to learn the meaning behind it.
Many are now questioning whether Juneteenth would be a federal holiday at all if Trump had chosen a different date for his rally last year.
D.L. says Black people have been demanding reparations, justice and equality for decades, but instead got a 3-day weekend.
There’s another reason D.L. and others are wary of the new holiday — several U.S. Senators who voted for the bill are trying to block schools from teaching about critical race theory.
As he put it, it’s hard to explain the holiday if critical race theory is censored.
In the end, D.L. is all for another day to BBQ, but he adds, this holiday does nothing to level the playing field.
