I’m feeling some type of way this year.
Don’t get me wrong…I am happy as a clam that Juneteenth is now a national holiday, even though I would have named it Emancipation Day, to be more accurate. I guess *some* people would rather not have an annual reminder that America once subjugated an entire race into slavery. In many ways, Black Americans still do not have independence, and our community is not self-sustaining like the Amish and the Asians.
Yet.
Before someone dares to use the phrase, “you should be grateful”, which would force me to unleash the Kraken, let me try to break this down.
My favorite restaurant right now is Gordon Ramsay’s Pub and Grill. Excellent food, well worth the money. Let’s say I drove two hours from PA to NJ just to eat there. I order the beef wellington, roasted brussels sprouts, and my favorite lobster mac and cheese. While I am waiting, the Executive Chef sneaks out of the kitchen and gets a take-out meal from one of the diners on the Boardwalk: burger, fries, coleslaw, and a pickle.
And that is what they bring out to my table.
Thank you for the food, because I’ve been driving for two hours, and I am hungry. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the food; it looks delicious.
But it is not what I ordered. Not what I was expecting. Not what I drove two hours and crossed a state line to eat.
You already see where I’m going, but stay in your seat for another minute…
We have been ordering equality and basic human decency since the first ship of kidnapped Africans touched American shores. Critical Race Theory, Voting Rights, Police Reform, Reparations, and MORE…
We have driven a LONG time to be where we are in American history, through slavery, systemic racism, microaggressions, wage gaps, and being hunted for sport by thugs with badges. We ask for the big things, because we still need them. What we get back are cosmetic concessions. Aunt Jemima gets an updated look. President Biden is the first Commander-in-Chief to visit the site of where Black Wall Street was destroyed. And June 19th becomes a national holiday.
Pardon me if I don’t jump up and down about that. Maybe next year. I am still working on nationwide attempts to suppress the Black vote, our Community having no political strength or influence, and my not being able to afford a house in my fifties.
By all means, eat your tea cakes, drink your strawberry juice, and strut like Black folks do. We are in this together. But this is not what we ordered, and someone needs to correct that.
Happy Juneteenth.
