Law Juneteenth is now a National and Federal Holiday!!!!

[TheJewBear]

Federal worker here. I'm happy to have off work tomorrow now

Also a millenial. I never heard the term "Juneteenth" or knew that it was a significant day until a couple of years ago. Growing up we all learned about the Emancipation Proclamation but I didn't realize there was a specific day that people celebrated. I'm all for the extra day off and recognizing an important moment in US history.

 

[MaxMMA]

As I said before, you can learn history, without celebrating it...especially when that history led to the atrocities that it led to. There are a lot of significant historical things that don't require holidays.

"Colombus Day" is just painting a rosy picture of the "discovery of America". We know what he did now, as adults. I certainly didn't learn it as a child when I was first exposed to him.

There are things in history that should be celebrated, Juneteenth is a good example.

The first man in our societies recorded history to discover the American landmass and start the process of colonization should be as well, IMO.

Agree to disagree I guess.

 

[Proud American]

Kamala Harris just said the White House was built by slaves

lol. Just lol

 

[Greta Thunberg]

"Go get some votes!!"

 

[TheLastSpartan]

Kamala Harris just said the White House was built by slaves

lol. Just lol

Slave labor did have a significant role in its construction.

 

[Proud American]

Slave labor did have a significant role in its construction.

The slave labor consisted moving heavy stones from point A to point B to skilled craftsman and engineers and architects could do the actual building

So I take offense at lies that are spewed by the left.

 

[Graves The Elder]

It's like she's talking to first graders or something.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Does this mean all schools in the US will have completed their year on or by June 18?

 

[machidafan99]

An admittance of wrong doing is substantial to the person that feels aggrieved. And if anything more substantial is to be given, it would happen after a "placating move" like this was made.

And that's a ridiculous comparison.
There is nothing inherently bad or controversial about mothers, so no one would take issue with their being a day to honor mothers, even if they didn't have a child or mother themselves.
Not only was Colombus a p.o.s., but he also didn't even do the thing that he is being credited for doing. A celebration of him, is a slap in the face to Natives. At the bare minimum, he would have had to have actually discovered America for this holiday to make an ounce of sense.
Knowing all of this, and continuing to celebrate the day as if he still did what you are crediting him for because it makes Italian Americans feel good is complete nonsense.

Here we have an impasse because of your ignorance. You obviously dont know that the celebration of Colombus Day was created and lobbied for to smooth relations with Italian Americans after the single largest lynching in American history. The holiday's creation has nothing to do with anything else.

 

[TheLastSpartan]

The slave labor consisted moving heavy stones from point A to point B to skilled craftsman and engineers and architects could do the actual building

So I take offense at lies that are spewed by the left.

You may consider Kamala's remark to be a half-truth but as I already stated, slave labor contributed a significant role in the creation of the White House. Slaves (and black freedmen) were participants in all phases of its construction including the actual building of the structure alongside white laborers and craftsmen.

The whole "slaves built the White House" saying is only a thing because for decades, history books & curriculums have completely omitted or minimized the role that enslaved Africans played in its creation (along with other American foundational establishments).

Unsurprisingly, this will continue in many states as GQP legislatures have lumped everything pertaining to black history into the new boogeyman box of "critical race theory" and will no doubt ban school curriculums from delving into topics such as this.

 

[Proud American]

You may consider Kamala's remark to be a half-truth but as I already stated, slave labor contributed a significant role in the creation of the White House. Slaves (and black freedmen) were participants in all phases of its construction including the actual building of the structure alongside white laborers and craftsmen.

The whole "slaves built the White House" saying is only a thing because for decades, history books & curriculums have completely omitted or minimized the role that enslaved Africans played in its creation (along with other American foundational establishments).

Unsurprisingly, this will continue in many states as GQP legislatures have lumped everything pertaining to black history into the new boogeyman box of "critical race theory" and will no doubt ban school curriculums from delving into topics such as this.

Are you saying slaves were doing the work of skilled labor, engineers and architects?

they didn’t.

they moved heavy stone from point A to point B.

 

[TheLastSpartan]

Are you saying slaves were doing the work of skilled labor, engineers and architects?

they didn’t.

they moved heavy stone from point A to point B.

I'm saying as far as manual labor goes, slaves contributed in every phase of construction.


https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2009/nr09-28-images.html

In 1791 Pierre L'Enfant, who planned the City of Washington, leased African American slaves from their masters to clear the sites for the "President's House" and the Capitol. Once the land was cleared, Washington's three-man Board of Commissioners, who oversaw the new city's construction, tried to recruit laborers from Europe and America to build the two structures. Unable to find as many workers as they needed, the commissioners turned to African Americans slaves. Most slaves hauled building materials and sawed lumber, but others performed skilled labor such as carpentry, stonecutting, and bricklaying. A list of persons who were employed to build the Capitol and White House, between 1795 and 1800, contains 122 names labeled "Negro hire."

Wage rolls preserved at the National Archives list the African Americans who worked on these projects as carpenters and brickmakers. One such roll is a 1795 "Carpenter's Roll" for the President's House. The document lists four slaves, "Tom, Peter, Ben, [and] Harry," two of whom were slaves owned by James Hoban, the architect of the President's House. The rolls record the number of days worked and the rate at which each person was paid. A slave's wages were paid directly to the slave owner who signed the rolls as receipt of payment.

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/building-the-white-house

According to meticulous research by historian Bob Arnebeck, over 200 known enslaved individuals labored on the White House and Capitol Building. You can access an index of the enslaved people currently identified here. However, there are likely many more enslaved people who worked on these federal building projects and remain unknown—their names are either lost to history or await future discovery.

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/enslaved-workers-on-the-white-house-grounds

Sampson and Thomas Nutter were also listed with a different last name than their owners. Sampson worked the most, laboring from August 1821 through December 1821. Thomas appears for the month of September 1821 as a laborer. Both men were paid $0.75 per day to copper the roof of the White House.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/white-house-was-fact-built-slaves-180959916/

“Slaves were likely involved in all aspects of construction, including carpentry, masonry, carting, rafting, plastering, glazing and painting, the task force reported,” Lane writes. “And slaves appear to have shouldered alone the grueling work of sawing logs and stones.”

On the Capitol building

https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/statue-freedom/philip-reid

When construction of the Capitol began in 1793, Washington, D.C., was little more than a rural landscape with dirt roads and few accommodations beyond a small number of boarding houses. Skilled labor was hard to find or attract to the fledgling city. Enslaved laborers, who were rented from their owners, were involved in almost every stage of construction. Philip Reid may be the single best known enslaved person associated with the Capitol's construction history.

And it should go w/o saying, recordkeeping of slave labor was notoriously inconsistent and hard to come by. Without a shadow of doubt, there were countless slaves who worked on these projects in all facets whose identities and contributions will never be known.

 

[Proud American]

I'm saying as far as manual labor goes, slaves contributed in every phase of construction.


https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2009/nr09-28-images.html



https://www.whitehousehistory.org/building-the-white-house



https://www.whitehousehistory.org/enslaved-workers-on-the-white-house-grounds


https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/white-house-was-fact-built-slaves-180959916/



On the Capitol building

https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/statue-freedom/philip-reid



And it should go w/o saying, recordkeeping of slave labor was notoriously inconsistent and hard to come by. Without a shadow of doubt, there were countless slaves who worked on these projects in all facets whose identities and contributions will never be known.

Very interesting. I’d like to see what they used as primary sources to find the names.

I wouldn’t want a rewriting of history to suit political arguments of today.

I’m very interested to look into why people would take the time to teach a slave skilled labor. Instead of teaching their own apprentices.

I mean, for as racist as those days were, it’s confusing to see why a person with a valuable skill would want to teach a slave how to do it, which would undercut the craftsman’s own wage earning power.

it doesn’t make any sense. Who wants to undercut their own position like that?

 

[gannima]

Very interesting. I’d like to see what they used as primary sources to find the names.

I wouldn’t want a rewriting of history to suit political arguments of today.

I’m very interested to look into why people would take the time to teach a slave skilled labor. Instead of teaching their own apprentices.

I mean, for as racist as those days were, it’s confusing to see why a person with a valuable skill would want to teach a slave how to do it, which would undercut the craftsman’s own wage earning power.

it doesn’t make any sense. Who wants to undercut their own position like that?

It's well researched and documented that there was skilled slave labor. I don't know what narrative you think would be served by lying about that. George Washington for example had a significant number of skilled slaves.

 

[TheLastSpartan]

Very interesting. I’d like to see what they used as primary sources to find the names.

I wouldn’t want a rewriting of history to suit political arguments of today.

I’m very interested to look into why people would take the time to teach a slave skilled labor. Instead of teaching their own apprentices.

I mean, for as racist as those days were, it’s confusing to see why a person with a valuable skill would want to teach a slave how to do it, which would undercut the craftsman’s own wage earning power.

it doesn’t make any sense. Who wants to undercut their own position like that?

Well.. it was an economic no-brainer to use slaves in construction which would logically involve trades. Though most slaves were unskilled laborers, some slaves were taught skills by their owners (in order to raise their value and wage-earning ability on subcontracts), and others likely learned through observation or from previously taught slaves. In any case, the institution of slavery became increasingly impractical with mass immigration of the European proletariat who provided the American labor force w/ relatively cheap yet skilled labor.

 

[PolishHeadlock2]

Lol

 

[mjfan23]

I'm saying as far as manual labor goes, slaves contributed in every phase of construction.


https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2009/nr09-28-images.html



https://www.whitehousehistory.org/building-the-white-house



https://www.whitehousehistory.org/enslaved-workers-on-the-white-house-grounds


https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/white-house-was-fact-built-slaves-180959916/



On the Capitol building

https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/statue-freedom/philip-reid



And it should go w/o saying, recordkeeping of slave labor was notoriously inconsistent and hard to come by. Without a shadow of doubt, there were countless slaves who worked on these projects in all facets whose identities and contributions will never be known.

The mere fact you had to respond to that hate post proves how gullible you are. Can I call you and get some social security and address information please? Thank you

 

[Deleted member 484047]

Thats nice, another national firesale day where people get suckered into buying up-marked items at normal prices while banks and public employees get to have a paid day off while the rest of us go to work anyways.

 

[TheLastSpartan]

The mere fact you had to respond to that hate post proves how gullible you are. Can I call you and get some social security and address information please? Thank you

Eh, it’s important these things are highlighted anyway. If not for the enlightenment of the random joe who genuinely is ignorant to certain aspects of history.

 

[kenetics]

Cool.