Some Americans celebrated Juneteenth on Monday of the week. Some Americans did not. The Carolina Hurricanes posted a simple, understated graphic on their social media mentioning Juneteenth is about “Celebrating Freedom.”
Today we honor and recognize Juneteenth — a day to commemorate the beginning of freedom and celebrate the the end of slavery in the United States.
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) June 19, 2023
Learn more » https://t.co/rCisqSpmd9 pic.twitter.com/QbiHMEFFFd
Nothing too offensive here, and if you were not looking for it, it could have been missed all together. But boy….the comments. Lots of folks were just…not…having it.
(I won’t call people out by name but you might take a look for yourself)
Honestly, I am sort of sick of these trolls.
If people, including the Carolina Hurricanes, want to celebrate Juneteenth, or any other holiday, and tie it in with hockey…LET THEM! No one says you have to! Sit at home and eat plain crackers if you do not want to celebrate. There is pie, cake, and ice cream if you do!
And while I am at it, KUDDOS for the people respectfully sticking up for these! Don’t think for a second it is going unnoticed.
At the end of the day, if a sports team of any type makes a mention of Juneteenth, Pride Month, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Native American History Month, Left Handers Day, or any other holiday it is going to be divisive. If they do not mention them, it is going to be divisive. Too much invites attacks. Too little, the results will not be any different.
Personally, I am on the celebration side of things. It is great to support people in celebrating things like Juneteenth, Pride Month, “Leave A Cucumber On Your Neighbor’s Porch Day”, and anything else people want to celebrate. There are lines I draw, and parades I will intentionally rain on in my own way, but taking to social media to poo-poo my favorite hockey team is not my style.
P.S. Juneteenth is in fact the celebration of the emancipation of slaves in the former Confederate State of Texas. This was the last state to rejoin the United States. As part of this, all laws passed by the Confederate government were nullified. It wasn’t until June 19, 1865 that this happened in Texas. Furthermore, technically, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free any slaves in territory not already in the United States or controlled by the Union Army at the time. Thus celebrating Juneteenth is actually more historically accurate than the day Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation because that is the day that the proclamation COMPLETELY took affect. Sorry to the one commentor who was trying so very hard to appear smart. It works on people who don’t have Google.