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Juneteenth Is Not for Everyone
“It seems like we as a country have yet to figure out what it means to celebrate Black people.”
Like many Black folks, I am perpetually exhausted by seeing the unexciting trend of a White person doing things that Black folks do every day and getting applause, clout, and cookout invitations for paying attention to Black culture. More egregious recent events have given way to popular discourse about gatekeeping Black culture, but it seems like we as a country have yet to figure out what it means to celebrate Black people.
In the present moment, many organizations are attempting to pay their just due from last summers’ racial reckonings with calls to buy Black, support Black businesses, and commemorate Juneteenth as a major holiday. While I am not convinced by the idea that Black capitalism or even cooperative economics has any impact on stopping murderous cops and racist vigilantes, I think that we must take a step back to see what we are really doing when we focus on doing things in the name of Black people.
As much as I am for celebrating the beauty of the African Diaspora, Juneteenth is not the day for doing that.
