On June 19, 1865, freedom finally came for the 250,000 enslaved people of Texas. That day, which would become known as Juneteenth, the Army arrived to
www.whitehouse.gov
I started reading this and thought "hey, something written for us to all rally around. Great." Then it turns into a campaign speech (gross), and then ends with this rhetoric:
On Juneteenth, may we celebrate the essence of freedom that galvanized the country, the progress we have made in our Nation, and all that is possible when we march forward together. May we all recommit to redeeming the very soul of America — choosing love over hate, unity over division, and progress over retreat.
[Yay! Good stuff!]
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 19, 2024, as Juneteenth Day of Observance. I call upon the people of the United States to acknowledge and condemn the history of slavery in our Nation and recognize how the impact of America’s original sin remains. I call on every American to celebrate Juneteenth
[weird; you're "calling" on people to "celebrate?" How about "honor" or "acknowledge?"] and recommit to working together
to eradicate systemic racism and inequity in our society wherever they find it.
[Oh boy. So we have to buy into the anti-racist theory of systemic racism (yes, that's what he's referring to) to buy into Juneteenth? Ugh--this kind of rhetoric, even if you believe it, drives division, not unity. Why not make it a way to celebrate the fact that the nation has advanced, improved on race relations, people who were not slaves fought and died and freed slaves and that that was a good thing?]