Juneteenth - Time for a national holiday?

[justme]

Hmmm I'm blanking on June for Ontario too, so I guess there isn't one like you said. Odd that it's the one summer month without one! Guess my brain made up one since every other month has one 😉

Still jealous of August and October (I don't get rapist white dude day at my current job).

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Juneteenth is here.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

www.cnn.com/2020/06/18/business/companies-observing-juneteenth/index.html

Last week, Nike, Twitter and a handful of other companies said they would observe June 19, or Juneteenth, as a paid holiday. Since then, a number of others have followed their lead.

.....
JCPenney is giving corporate employees paid time off on June 19, and providing additional holiday pay for retail associates scheduled to work that day.

Fellow retail giant Target (TGT) is also making Juneteenth a paid company holiday, and providing hourly workers with time and a half pay. BestBuy has offered its employees a "paid volunteer day," which they can take on June 19 or another day this year to engage in "peaceful protests, rallies and community service." Starting next year, BestBuy will make Juneteenth a formal, paid company holiday, it said in a release.

....
Other companies saying they will observe the holiday this year include Ben & Jerry's, Tumblr, the New York Times (NYT), Spotify (SPOT), Workday (WDAY), marketing firm Comscore and Kellogg-owned snack company RxBar. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also issued an executive order this week recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday for state employees.

[dezii]

Jun 19, 2020 5:48:55 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Juneteenth is here.

I admit it...never knew the significant of the date till the recent uproar...guess "me bad"....

{Oh lordy..does that mean I have traits of the Donald?  auuuggghhh}

[Rukh O'Rorke]

www.cnn.com/2020/06/13/opinions/make-juneteenth-a-national-holiday-now-joseph/index.html

A national holiday commemorating Juneteenth would spur not only conversation about the origins of our current racial and political conflicts, but would also prompt vitally necessary education about white supremacy and its manifestations in policies and political actions that are anti-black, anti-democratic and anti-human.


In the African American community Juneteenth represents a sacred day of memory marked by millions of people annually participating in festivals, parades and other gatherings. National holidays serve as the ultimate reflection of the sacrifices of workers, soldiers and patriotic Americans who shed blood for democracy and gave of themselves for this republic. No group deserves this honor more than the generations of enslaved African Americans who were key to building the United States into the greatest superpower the world has ever known

[tallguy]

Juneteenth - Time for a national holiday?

No, there are too many federal holidays already.  How many are there now, ten?  Cut it to four. 
Is Juneteenth worthy of being a national holiday?  Well, sure, if New Year's Day, MLK Day, President's Day, Columbus Day and a couple others are.  The better question is which of our existing holidays truly deserve to be celebrated as national holidays?
 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jun 19, 2020 13:00:28 GMT -5 tallguy said:

Juneteenth - Time for a national holiday?

No, there are too many federal holidays already.  How many are there now, ten?  Cut it to four. 

 

based on what metric?

The majority of workers in the US are overworked, underpaid, and with a pathetic amount of paid time off compared to other developed countries.

And we pay for that in a lot of ways. Including the physical and mental health of our workforce, and same for workers' children affected by the PTO stinginess. And all through the communities.

More time off would pay for itself in a decrease of chronic and acute health events. I think there should be a minimum of one three day weekend/month, and one 4-day weekend per quarter. And it likely wouldn't even have a negative impact on productivity, likely an increase.

For Juneteenth in particular, there needs to be national recognition and celebration of important days that aren't white and white-male centric. Get over it.

[tallguy]

Jun 19, 2020 14:33:36 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Jun 19, 2020 13:00:28 GMT -5 tallguy said:

No, there are too many federal holidays already.  How many are there now, ten?  Cut it to four. 

 

based on what metric?

The majority of workers in the US are overworked, underpaid, and with a pathetic amount of paid time off compared to other developed countries.

And we pay for that in a lot of ways. Including the physical and mental health of our workforce, and same for workers' children affected by the PTO stinginess. And all through the communities.

More time off would pay for itself in a decrease of chronic and acute health events. I think there should be a minimum of one three day weekend/month, and one 4-day weekend per quarter. And it likely wouldn't even have a negative impact on productivity, likely an increase.

For Juneteenth in particular, there needs to be national recognition and celebration of important days that aren't white and white-male centric. Get over it.

To the general point, I would MUCH rather have had federal holidays converted to personal days, where I could take them when I wanted to.  I'd guess many people would agree.  To the bolded, that is not really a valid complaint, considering I would also advocate removing holidays that apparently are, according to you, white and white-male centric.  We used to have both Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday.  They were combined into President's Day.  Good, but how many other president's are worthy even of praise, much less recognition with a federal holiday?  And for the record, what could possibly be more white-male centric than President's Day?  Get rid of it.  MLK Day?  He was one man.  Did he make a great positive contribution to this country?  Sure, but I would argue that no single man in our history is deserving of a federal holiday.  We even got rid of the holidays for Washington and Lincoln!  Columbus Day, seriously?  Get rid of it.  And what could be the justification for New Year's Day?  That a number changed on a calendar?  I have no problem with the idea of workers having some paid days off as part of their compensation, but where do we stop with federal holidays?     

[billisonboard]

Jun 19, 2020 15:26:47 GMT -5 tallguy said:

... And what could be the justification for New Year's Day? ...

"If you can't beat them, join them."

[tallguy]

Jun 19, 2020 15:43:05 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jun 19, 2020 15:26:47 GMT -5 tallguy said:

... And what could be the justification for New Year's Day? ...

"If you can't beat them, join them."

Don't think I would agree with the premise that we benefit by catering to the dumbest and most pathetic among us, but then again you do have the last 3.5 years of history on your side....

[billisonboard]

Jun 19, 2020 15:51:45 GMT -5 tallguy said:

Jun 19, 2020 15:43:05 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

"If you can't beat them, join them."

Don't think I would agree with the premise that we benefit by catering to the dumbest and most pathetic among us, but then again you do have the last 3.5 years of history on your side....

Me thinks the history of drunken wildness goes back a bit more than 3.5 years.

[tallguy]

Jun 19, 2020 16:00:00 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jun 19, 2020 15:51:45 GMT -5 tallguy said:

Don't think I would agree with the premise that we benefit by catering to the dumbest and most pathetic among us, but then again you do have the last 3.5 years of history on your side....

Me thinks the history of drunken wildness goes back a bit more than 3.5 years.

Yes, but the benefit of catering to the least of us doesn't....

[gambler]

It is all just about money. Thow a few million at a cause the good will generated plus the future advisement will pay back 10 times

[gambler]

Look at the military discounts offered by some retailers lots of vets only go to them

[Tennesseer]

Jun 19, 2020 11:48:33 GMT -5 dezii said:

Jun 19, 2020 5:48:55 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Juneteenth is here.

I admit it...never knew the significant of the date till the recent uproar...guess "me bad"....

{Oh lordy..does that mean I have traits of the Donald?  auuuggghhh}

No traits of trump. trump was so ill informed on Juneteenth he had no idea his own White House office publicly acknowledge Juneteenth the past three years.

[steff]

Growing up in Houston, Texas, Juneteenth was always a considered a holiday. Might not have been an "official" holiday, but there was always celebrations/events/concerts in the park to celebrate Juneteenth. I didn't realize it wasn't a holiday for everyone until I moved out of Texas. 

[Lizard Queen]

I'd never heard of it before this year. Making it a national holiday makes sense to me, but also a little sad because personally I get nothing from my employer for any holidays.

[djAdvocate]

Jun 19, 2020 18:48:22 GMT -5 steff said:

Growing up in Houston, Texas, Juneteenth was always a considered a holiday. Might not have been an "official" holiday, but there was always celebrations/events/concerts in the park to celebrate Juneteenth. I didn't realize it wasn't a holiday for everyone until I moved out of Texas. 

pretty sure it is a state holiday in TX.  I was surprised to learn that.

[Opti]

Jun 19, 2020 15:43:05 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jun 19, 2020 15:26:47 GMT -5 tallguy said:

... And what could be the justification for New Year's Day? ...

"If you can't beat them, join them."

Employers don't want to deal with the callouts on New Year's Day?