For many black Americans, this day has always been a part of life.
President Trump was originally scheduled to hold his first re-election campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., today. |
To many, the optics and timing of such an event couldn’t have felt more insidious: June 19 is Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the day black Texans received news that they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. And Tulsa is the site of one of the deadliest acts of violence in American history where, 99 years ago, an affluent black community was decimated by white mobs. |
It seems unlikely that criticism of a “Make America Great Again” rally on this date, in that location, would have registered nearly as loudly four years ago. For decades, most Americans knew nothing about the Tulsa atrocity. |
As Brent Staples recounts in his editorial today about the massacre, this was by design: Almost immediately, government officials and journalists went to great lengths to cover up and downplay the extent of the carnage. And it was only this year that Oklahoma formally added it to its school curriculum. |
Likewise, Juneteenth’s ascendance into white America’s consciousness is relatively new. As the George Floyd protests have sparked a national reckoning with anti-blackness, companies like Twitter and Square (and The Times, too) are celebrating the holiday for the first time this year. But for many black Americans, and especially black Texans like Brianna Holt, Juneteenth has always been a part of life. |
And since we’re talking about the resurfacing of black American history, might I suggest Dillon Hayes’s Op-Doc “All I Have To Offer You Is Me,” about Larry Callies, a black Texas cowboy? Mr. Callies once dreamed of becoming a singing star like his idol, Charley Pride; these days, he’s on a mission to educate people about the untold stories of black ranchers. They may hardly ever appear in the many mythical movies and TV shows you grew up on, but in real life, they played a large role in the formation of the West. |
President Trump has since moved his rally from today to tomorrow; Brad Parscale, his campaign manager, told The Times that he himself had been unaware of Juneteenth when the initial date was scheduled. Going forward, at least, it will be hard for anyone to claim they don’t know the significance of June 19. |
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