Vivek Ramaswamy Says Juneteenth Is 'Useless'

Supply: Scott Olson / Getty

While the Black delegation is toying round with the concept of creating Aug. 5 a nationwide vacation to commemorate the day Black individuals in Montgomery, Alabama, got here collectively to guard a Black dock employee from white attackers, a Republican presidential candidate is suggesting the cancellation of one of many at present current Black holidays.

In truth, on the identical day Black people in Montgomery have been laying the proverbial smackdown on a household of violent Caucasians, Iowa Republican Vivek Ramaswamy broke down his plan to implement a nationwide voting vacation, which officers may make room for by eliminating different holidays he considers “ineffective,” together with Juneteenth.

“Cancel Juneteenth or one of many different ineffective ones we made up,” Ramaswamy mentioned throughout a marketing campaign speech. “You may’t have all the things be a vacation, however we’ll cancel one of many different ones and make Election Day a vacation.”

Ramaswamy was going by way of what gave the impression to be an inventory of how to make U.S. elections safer, which one can solely assume is his means of becoming a member of Trump and the remainder of the GOP in pretending U.S. elections are susceptible to widespread voter fraud, although there’s no proof of that as each examine has proven that voter fraud in America is extraordinarily uncommon.

In fact, when he steered that Juneteenth could possibly be achieved away with and was “made up” (as if all holidays aren’t), the white viewers the person of Indian descent was attempting to attraction to laughed and clapped tougher in response. (Not that white conservatives show day-after-day that they’re inherently racist or something.)

A reporter from NBC Information gave Ramaswamy an opportunity to stroll his remarks again by asking him if he actually believes Juneteenth is a throwaway vacation, however as an alternative, he leaned proper into the controversy he should have recognized was brewing and doubled down.

“The spirit of Juneteenth we already channeled into different holidays like Martin Luther King Day, like Presidents Day,” Ramaswamy mentioned after being requested if he additionally considers days like Memorial Day and Veterans Day to be ineffective, to which he responded that he didn’t. “I believe we will commemorate the spirit of that vacation individually. So, I don’t assume we should always have redundant holidays.”

Initially, how is even the “spirit” of Juneteenth coated by Presidents Day? That is the vacation that commemorates all U.S. presidents, together with those who owned slaves and advocated for slavery, is it not? That will be like placing a canine pound subsequent to a canine park and declaring that every one dog-related companies matter.

In fact, the extra apparent eyebrow-raiser is his suggestion that Juneteenth isn’t essential as a result of MLK Day already exists. The 2 days commemorate two various things. What MLK Day commemorates is clearly within the identify and Juneteenth represents the anniversary of the final U.S. slaves being freed in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, 64 years earlier than MLK was born. The one factor the 2 holidays have in widespread is that they each contain Black individuals. In the meantime, the one distinction between Memorial Day and Veterans Day is the previous celebrates lifeless veterans whereas the latter celebrates dwelling and lifeless veterans. However no—the Black one is actually the “redundant” vacation.

By the way in which, Vivek Ramaswamy’s remarks about Juneteenth on Saturday stand in direct contradiction of the remarks he made on Juneteenth.

“We don’t simply look again and flog ourselves,” Ramaswamy mentioned lower than two months earlier than he steered there’s solely room for one Black vacation at a time. “What we have a good time is how far we’ve come. And as a first-generation American myself, you higher consider I’m pleased with it. Completely satisfied Juneteenth all people.”

So, principally, Vivek Ramaswamy is an individual of coloration with white supremacist tendencies—which is the one form of POC the GOP will permit at its desk—and he’s a poor political strategist pandering to each side like we don’t all share the identical web. He additionally reminds us precisely what Republicans and conservatives take into consideration Black historical past.

Please exit and vote in 2024, people.