The Rhino Times believes most people can agree that Juneteenth is not the best name for a holiday; however, great name or not, a holiday it is. And thus the City of Greensboro, like many other entities, will be largely shut down that day.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people there were free. That was more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The holiday became a federal holiday in 2021, when former President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17 of that year.
Juneteenth is the newest federal holiday – and the first new one approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.
Most City of Greensboro offices will be closed on Friday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth, but some city services will continue operating.
The biggest change for many residents is the trash and recycling schedule.
There won’t be trash or recycling collections on Friday, June 19.
Instead, Friday’s collections will take place one day earlier, on Thursday, June 18, and Thursday’s collections will take place on Wednesday, June 17.
The White Street Landfill and Transfer Station will also be closed on June 19.
However, the Ecoflo Household Hazardous Waste site at 2750 Patterson St. will remain open.
The Greensboro Transit Agency will operate its regular service on Juneteenth.
The Greensboro Public Libraries, the Greensboro History Museum and the Greensboro Cultural Center will all be closed on June 19.
The Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department will also have a number of closings for the holiday: Parks and Recreation administrative offices, recreation centers, the Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation section, the Greensboro Youth Council, Smith and Trotter Active Adult Centers, Xperience @ Caldcleugh and the Simkins Indoor Sports Pavilion will all be closed.
However, people looking to spend part of the holiday outdoors will still have plenty of options. City parks, gardens, lakes, trails, cemeteries, the Greensboro Sportsplex and Gillespie Golf Course will remain open on their normal operating schedules.
The Melvin Municipal Office Building and the J. Edward Kitchen Operations Center will be closed to all in-person services on June 19.
City residents who need to pay a water bill can still do so through alternative payment methods listed at greensboro-nc.gov/PayWaterBill.
For water and sewer emergencies, including water main breaks, sewer stoppages or changes in the taste, odor or color of drinking water, residents can call Water Resources 24-hour Dispatch at 336-373-2033
And the only people getting paid for this holiday are government employees
I am getting paid for this Holiday and I work for a British company currently.
fairness: st patricks’ day holiday for my culture ? eliminate all holidays named for people & cleanup this expensive morass of ‘memorials – private funding for all memorials past & present will make $2 billion cost per year disappear ? the remains of our ancestors crunch underfoot battles fought unnumbered unknown my history book n mag & museum & cinema & teacher is $$ better spent. that ‘memorial sgn on highway is enough public $ support.
Raise our taxes for another day the city has off. Makes perfect sense? Are we consistently paying more for less?
Perfect example of wasted taxpayers dollars
This holiday should be changed to a Carolina Hurricanes Day. Something worth celebrating
President Biden leaves his “legacy”. More (fatal?) damage to the Republic than Buchanan.
Yeah, how devastating to have a day to celebrate the end of Slavery……one of the most inhumane practices in the world. How will the Republic ever recover?! /s
But hey, we can have two buys beat each other up on the lawn of a White House with a missing wing with jumping motorcycles, firewordks, and country music. Wooohoooo Party in the U.S.A.!!! THAT is a great use of tax dollars.
Cheers
professor, you sound like a very low testosterone male who has been influenced by feminazis. If so, I feel sad for you. In the annals of television, in the 1950s Friday night programming included “Friday Night Fights” sponsored by Gillette razor blades. The fights were live and were a very popular broadcast at the time. It was enjoyed by high level testosterone men. No different than the fight on the White House lawn. I think women would say “thanks” for high testosterone men. Better than a femboy.
Weird attempt at an insult.
I am actually a fan of UFC as it is true test of overall fighting skills versus more specialized types of fighting such as boxing, kick boxing, etc….
But to have a tax funded event to celebrate the President’s birthday that financially benefits a private business venture is a gross misuse of tax dollars for the personal benefit of Trump’s ego that is unprecedented in US history.
If you get turned on by high testosterone men, that’s your personal choice and wish you the best with that…. personally, I don’t know how my testosterone rates to other men…..not currently included in my annual blood work during my physicals.
I am certainly not turned on by high testosterone men, but hopefully women are.
It is my understanding that the fight cost $60M to put on, all costs bore by Dana White’s organization. The service members attended free of charge. Since this was in celebration of President Trump’s 80th birthday, it stands to reason it will not happen again since Trump turns 80 only once.
Nothing that happens around the president is tax free.
Security costs alone were reported to be substantial. One report estimated about $12 million in D.C. police expenses, expected to be reimbursed through a federal special-events fund. Additional costs for federal law enforcement, National Guard support, military flyovers, and other government activities have not been fully disclosed.
UFC officials reportedly agreed to pay roughly $700,000 for lawn restoration after the event. So sure, the actual fight was covered by UFC, but not everything else required to support the events……
So let’s track this…his first birthday, he spent millions on a military parade, this year he spent millions on a fight night, and you think he won’t spend more of your tax dollars on his birthday next year. Bet you a beer he has another event for his 81st. Why not, you will pay for it so why wouldn’t he party on your dime?
Blacks have a way of forcing others to “celebrate” them. I do not celebrate Juneteenth. When did slavery end? Blacks want holidays celebrating, what? Joe Biden was a bozo who was manipulated at every turn by the real power in Washington. I do not hold Abraham Lincoln in high regard and blame him for the war. Lincoln said on March 4, 1861, in his inaugural address: “While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years.” He was wrong about this too, as we are witnesses to Joe Biden’s administration.
Weird. I feel much the same way about Trump.
If Lincoln was wrong that a president can’t seriously damage the country in four years, Trump is the stronger example. Biden’s biggest offense in your comment is creating a federal holiday. Trump managed far more in just a year and a half: alienating longtime allies, escalating military conflict in the Middle East, increasing the national debt, raising costs for consumers through tariffs, undermining American scientific and medical institutions, weakening support for research and education, dismissing climate science, and promoting conspiracy theories over evidence.
Perhaps most damaging of all, he has normalized a style of politics built on constant falsehoods, personal insults, grievance, and the portrayal of America as a nation in decline unless he alone is in charge.
If we’re looking for evidence that a president can seriously injure the country in a short period of time, Trump makes a far stronger case than Biden ever did.
Chris can you name anything that President Trump and the Republicans have done to benefit America
let’s see…..
He signed legislation providing long-term funding for HBCUs
Republicans included 12 weeks of paid parental leave for millions of federal employees
Signed a bipartisan measure to lower Medicare prescription drug costs and increase transparency in health care pricing.
He signed the First Step Act….that reduced mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent drug offenses and expanded early-release programs. (I think this was during his first term)
Trumped signed the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act
Far shorter list than the things he has done to hurt American but certainly a few things.
Thanks Chris but one of the biggest things he solved was the ILLEGAL’S crossing our border
Biden actually did that before he left office….too late by my opinion but he did restrict the flow of asylum stays after Trump blocked that laws that would actually solve the problems, so administrations don’t have to ignore the laws to restrict asylum requests.
I would support the idea of increased focus on undocumented immigrants but given the approach chosen to ignore people right to due process I can’t call that a win. He should have gone after employers.
But you be you.
I do not support all actions by President Trump. I was shocked that he chose to enter Israel’s bombing of Iran. The tariffs have caused an increase in import prices. However, if tariffs help reduce consumerism in America, they are worth it, and the added income to America is a good thing. Some of our long-time allies needed alienating. They are much too dependent on our largess.
I do agree that America has been in decline mostly because we have lost our way; cultural wars, borrowing money we don’t have to give to countries that are not truly our friends, shipping jobs to other areas to increase the bottom line of corporations, losing sight that certain manufacturing must be kept at home such as drugs. But these things are not the fault of Trump.
His ego is as big as the Hindenburg and filed with more than a modicum of hot air. The most noteworthy, in my opinion, was putting his name on the Kennedy Center. Why? That was truly a stupid thing to do.
Trump has not normalized a style of politics. There will never be another Trump, and if someone tries to imitate him, they will be viewed as phony, as they should be.
But your suggestion that Biden and his cabal of bureaucrats did not injure this country to the point of no return without refueling, is wrong, and history will prove this out.
So professor what do you think think the security costs of Obama’s opening of his butt ugly buildings costs with two ex presidents in attendance
Why are we not declaring September 3rd 1783 as a National Holiday?
Why are we nor declaring May 8th, 1945 as a National Holiday?
Why are we not declaring August 15th, 1945 a National Holiday?
Why are we not declaring other dates such as these a National Holiday given the importance of what effect and impact these dates had on ALL Americans. Not that we want to be like South Korea with more holidays then Carter has liver pills…Naming Day, Alphabet Day, etc.
Local municipalities have every right to declare any day they feel is important to them for whatever reason and celebrate it as they see fit, closing LOCAL facilities and suspending LOCAL services.
What we don’t need is a National Holiday just for a specific people, race, belief. National Holidays are for ALL Americans.
Why are we not declaring September 3rd 1783 as a National Holiday? – Because we celebrate July 4th instead.
Why are we nor declaring May 8th, 1945 as a National Holiday? – Because we celebrate Veterans Day & Memorial Day instead.
Why are we not declaring August 15th, 1945 a National Holiday? – Because we celebrate Veterans Day & Memorial Day instead.
Why are we not declaring other dates such as these a National Holiday given the importance of what effect and impact these dates had on ALL Americans. – Elimination of slavery and civil rights benefited the entire US.
Hope that helps.
How did elimination of slavery benefit the entire US? And, what civil rights bills benefited the people of the US?
Be patient TL professor has to crank up AI
Economics. By legally prohibiting discrimination in the workplace, education, the civil rights movement helped foster a more meritocratic society, opening the door for wider talent pool to contribute to the American economy. More people making money = more people spending money = more growth for US economy that benefited everyone.
Slavery was actually a massive economic drag and by eliminating slavery raised the value of free labor and sparked rapid technological innovations to drive productivity improvements. Recent economic research indicates that emancipation generated aggregate economic gains for the overall US economy worth up to 35% of US GDP. Simplest way of thinking about this is, imagine having to find good paying work but having to compete against people forced to work for free. This impacted value of labor even more broadly than agriculture and eliminated need for innovation.
Hope that helps.
Where to begin. Let’s start with slavery. Slavery is not unique to Blacks in America. What is unique is the way enslaved Negroes arrived in America. African tribes in Africa deliberately hunted fellow Africans to sell to the slave traders. Apparently, there was no compunction by Africans against hunting and selling fellow Africans for profit. That’s why I question American Blacks alleged loyalty to Africa.
Slavery was not free labor. Owners of slaves were obliged by the exigencies of circumstances to protect their investment. Therefore, housing, food, and clothing were part of the investment and were provided by slave owners. It is argued that housing and clothing were crude. Well, so were the housing and clothing of poor White Southerners, none of which could afford to buy and keep slaves. There has been much made of cruelty toward slaves, and there is no doubt this is true. But it is nonsensical to view this practice as commonplace since damaging an owner’s labor source destroys why a slave was purchased in the first place.
There were Back-to-Africa movements in the South, and thousands were returned to Africa. One reason for the movement, among others, was that because slaves were not White, Western Europeans, they would not assimilate if free. Slavery was not a massive drain on the economy; it fueled the manufacturing growth of the industrial North.
In 1790 the slave population in America was 700,00. It surged to 4 million by 1860; 99% of the increase due to births. The fact that so many slaves increased in numbers and survived disease is a testament that slave treatment as reported by the Black race hustlers is inaccurate at best and intentional fabrication at worst. I understand Blacks need to keep racism going, but I also understand that it has lost its effectiveness and is viewed for what it is, an excuse for failure.
As far as the Civil Rights Movement, it promoted discrimination through affirmative action, which later morphed into DEI. The Civil Rights Movement was the catalyst for undermining merit-based achievement and promotion. Any group that undermines meritocracy believes they can’t/don’t measure up if merit is used for selection and advancement.
Where to begin.
First, no serious historian argues that slavery was unique to America or that some African tribes did not participate in the slave trade. That is simply a distraction. The fact that some Africans captured and sold other Africans does not excuse the people who purchased, transported, owned, exploited, whipped, raped, and sold human beings in America.
If I buy stolen property, I don’t become innocent because someone else stole it first.
Second, the claim that slavery “wasn’t free labor” because owners provided food, clothing, and shelter is astonishing. By that logic, prison labor isn’t labor because prisoners receive meals and a bunk. The defining feature of slavery wasn’t who paid for the food. It was that people were treated as property, denied freedom, denied wages, denied legal rights, and subjected to violence if they resisted.
Third, the argument that widespread cruelty could not have existed because slaves were valuable property ignores both history and human nature. People abuse expensive things all the time. More importantly, historians have documented countless examples of beatings, mutilations, rape, family separation, forced labor, and other abuses. The existence of economic incentives did not eliminate brutality.
Fourth, pointing to population growth among enslaved people as evidence that slavery wasn’t that bad is one of the strangest arguments I’ve ever encountered. A population can grow while living under oppression. Population growth does not prove freedom, justice, or humane treatment. By that standard, no oppressed group in history could ever claim mistreatment if their numbers increased.
Finally, the claim that racism is merely an “excuse for failure” ignores mountains of evidence. When the Civil Rights Movement began, Black Americans had endured nearly a century of legally enforced segregation, voter suppression, discrimination in housing, education, employment, lending, and public accommodations. Those are historical facts, not excuses.
As for affirmative action and DEI, reasonable people can debate whether those policies are effective or fair. What cannot be reasonably debated is that the Civil Rights Movement’s central achievement was dismantling laws that denied Americans equal treatment based on race. Suggesting that equal access to voting, schools, jobs, housing, and public accommodations somehow undermined meritocracy turns history upside down.
The most telling part of your comment is that every fact is interpreted in the way most favorable to slavery and most dismissive of discrimination. When every road leads to the same conclusion regardless of the evidence, that’s not historical analysis. That’s ideology.
“Why are we not declaring September 3rd 1783 as a National Holiday? – Because we celebrate July 4th instead.”
4th of July was the signing of the Declaration of Independence. September 3rd 1783 was when we won the war. Believe it or not, there is a difference.
“Why are we nor declaring May 8th, 1945 as a National Holiday? – Because we celebrate Veterans Day & Memorial Day instead.”
“Why are we not declaring August 15th, 1945 a National Holiday? – Because we celebrate Veterans Day & Memorial Day instead.”
Veterans Day and Memorial Day celebrate/honor those that fought and died over ALL wars/conflicts across American history. ALL wars and conflicts, not just 2.
“Why are we not declaring other dates such as these a National Holiday given the importance of what effect and impact these dates had on ALL Americans.”
We DO celebrate Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day (at least most of us do). Note those are celebrated as DAYS, where someone decided we need a Gay Pride MONTH, a Black History MONTH. I guess those folks we honor on those DAYS are less important then those some of us do during those MONTHS.
Didn’t February use to be called AMERICAN History month? Just asking.
You obviously missed (intentionally) the point I was making. Your All Knowing status is slipping a little there professor/Cxxxxxxxx X Rxxx/Chris/Polly Pocket/Sybil/whatever.
Actually, I think I understood your point perfectly. You just don’t like the answer.
My examples weren’t intended to show that those dates are identical to Juneteenth. They were intended to show that societies routinely choose symbolic dates to commemorate important events rather than every historically significant date.
The question remains: why should the date that marks the effective end of slavery in the United States not be commemorated?
As for your complaint about Black History Month and Pride Month, neither one prevents anyone from celebrating Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Constitution Day, Presidents Day, or any other observance. Recognition is not a finite resource.
And no, February was not “American History Month.” February has been officially recognized as Black History Month for nearly fifty years. The reason it exists is that for much of American history, Black Americans were either excluded from the history books or reduced to footnotes despite playing a significant role in building the country.
More importantly, Juneteenth is not just a “Black holiday.” The end of slavery was an American event. Slavery was an American institution. Its abolition was an American achievement. The expansion of liberty to millions of Americans is part of American history whether one chooses to celebrate it or not.
The fact that some people react more negatively to a holiday commemorating the end of slavery than they do to holidays commemorating military victories says far more about them than it does about the holiday.
As for the nicknames, I’ve noticed that when people run out of arguments, they often switch to insults. You’re welcome to keep doing that if it makes you feel better, but it doesn’t really advance the discussion.
Actually, I think I understood your point perfectly. You just don’t like the answer.
My examples weren’t intended to show that those dates are identical to Juneteenth. They were intended to show that societies routinely choose symbolic dates to commemorate important events rather than every historically significant date.
The question remains: why should the date that marks the effective end of slavery in the United States not be commemorated?
As for your complaint about Black History Month and Pride Month, neither one prevents anyone from celebrating Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Constitution Day, Presidents Day, or any other observance. Recognition is not a finite resource.
And no, February was not “American History Month.” February has been officially recognized as Black History Month for nearly fifty years. The reason it exists is that for much of American history, Black Americans were either excluded from the history books or reduced to footnotes despite playing a significant role in building the country.
More importantly, Juneteenth is not just a “Black holiday.” The end of slavery was an American event. Slavery was an American institution. Its abolition was an American achievement. The expansion of liberty to millions of Americans is part of American history whether one chooses to celebrate it or not.
The fact that some people react more negatively to a holiday commemorating the end of slavery than they do to holidays commemorating military victories says far more about them than it does about the holiday.
The progression is always fascinating: disagreement, then frustration, then nicknames. It’s like watching a debate evolve back into middle school.
goodby christmas, easter, apr 1 (fools), mothers/fathers veterans day . ‘national holidays’ don’t mean a thing to low paid people who will probably work on the orwell 1984 MANDATED HOLIDAY sans leisure. while SOME will get that PAID HOLIDAY
For what legitimate reason would you think that because someone works on a holiday they don’t care about the holiday as your comment implies. And as far as working, some employees are paid time and half on holidays. As far as sans leisure, leisure is in the eyes of the beholder. You, MARKLSPARK, are a contrarian.
Sparky is man who dances to his own tune, not as any others heard here. Always entertaining.
Yes, if the remarks can be understood.
true
rather than all these random holidays of questionable origin/relevance, consider implementing a three day ‘weekend’ for every worker every month ?
Did you see where the Rochester Public School district in Minnesota, holidays on the school calendar as Christmas, Easter holidays are erased, replaced with winter, spring breaks but the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha has been added BY NAME, and was justified by Superintendent Kent Pekel due to the number of absences on Eid al-Adha.
So does that mean we can pick any religious holiday and allow students to miss school because of it and not be penalized for it?
Rules for thee but not for me.
what holiday do pastafarians get ? consider freedom of & FROM religion change to our constitution ?
———–
If I’d been born in this country as an African-American I would thank God that I had not been born in Africa.
God Bless America.
‘holy water 4 sale’ wash your sins away
professor, your comments prove that you and other Blacks will never admit that slavery is used as a crutch to explain away Black population failures or demand for more influence. Reparations paid will never be the end to Blacks’ demands. There will always be another demand. The one difference is that the Whites who have always supported the cry of racism are dying. Your base of race hustlers is diminishing. Recent immigrants who never owned slaves, never took part in Jim Crow laws, and most likely turn a deaf ear to reparations while being thankful to live in America.
There is no attempt by most Americans to diminish the pain and suffering caused by slavery 200 years ago. If I personally could turn back the hands of time and cause a reversal of the slave trade, I would; like it never happened.
But the constant bellyaching about slavery and discrimination is more than tiring. Reparations? It is just a money grab by Blacks, the majority of which have no connection to slavery and have White ancestry.
That’s a false choice.
Recognizing that history has consequences does not mean denying personal responsibility. We do this all the time with other groups and other historical events. No one accuses veterans of “bellyaching” when they discuss the effects of war. No one accuses farmers of “bellyaching” when they discuss the effects of drought. No one accuses business owners of “bellyaching” when they discuss the effects of economic recessions.
Yet somehow when Black Americans discuss the effects of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, redlining, or discrimination, the response is often, “Stop talking about it.” You say most Americans do not want to diminish the suffering caused by slavery. That’s good. But dismissing discussions about its legacy as “bellyaching” is literally diminishing it.
And notice something else: every time someone mentions slavery, segregation, or discrimination, you immediately jump to reparations. I didn’t mention reparations. Juneteenth isn’t reparations. Black History Month isn’t reparations. Teaching history isn’t reparations. Acknowledging historical facts isn’t reparations.
It’s entirely possible to recognize that slavery and Jim Crow shaped American society without believing anyone alive today is personally guilty for those injustices.
The irony is that you say you wish slavery had never happened, yet you seem irritated whenever anyone discusses the consequences of the fact that it did happen.
History doesn’t stop affecting society simply because we’re tired of hearing about it.
Bellyaching: Whining and complaining, often contrived to evoke pity or shirk responsibility.
Comparing veterans who discuss the effect of war on their lives, many who are maimed or suffer from serious physical and/or mental consequences of military service and farmers who suffer a weather-related phenomenon is a fallacy of inconsistency (apples to oranges,) creating a misleading sense of balance.
Your comments about slavery reinforces my comments that Blacks will never stop interjecting slavery into arguments as long as using slavery as a talking point or as an excuse for behavior is fruitful. There is no doubt that the slavery argument has lost its effectiveness.
I repeat, reparations is a money grab by Blacks. Any government, whether local, state, or federal that pays reparations to Blacks is a government that has buckled under pressure from a constituency who wants a windfall of money, like winning the lottery, without buying a ticket. Blacks are using a page from the old playbook, keep shouting and keep using aggressively intrusive threating tactics to get results, cheered on by other Blacks hiding in the shadows already counting the money.
You keep arguing against a position I never took. I did not argue that Black Americans should be excused from personal responsibility, nor did I argue that reparations are required. I argued that history has consequences. That is not a controversial claim.
Policies such as slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, exclusion from many New Deal programs, redlining, and unequal access to education and housing affected where people lived, what wealth they could accumulate, and what opportunities were available to their children. Those effects do not disappear the moment a law changes.
And no, that is not an “apples to oranges” comparison.
The point of the veteran and farmer examples was not that the experiences are identical. The point was that we routinely recognize how past events continue to affect people in the present. A war can affect a veteran decades later. A drought can affect a farming community for years. Likewise, historical discrimination can affect communities long after the original policies end.
You also keep insisting that discussing history is merely a tactic to obtain reparations.
That is a non sequitur. People can study, teach, and discuss the legacy of slavery and segregation without supporting reparations. Historians do it every day. Teachers do it every day. Citizens do it every day.
What I find revealing is that your argument repeatedly shifts from “slavery happened long ago” to “Black people are whining,” “race hustling,” and seeking a “lottery ticket.” Those are rhetorical labels, not evidence. They avoid the actual question: Did slavery and Jim Crow leave measurable effects on American society? If so, what should we learn from that history?
Reasonable people can disagree about policy responses, including reparations. But dismissing the discussion itself as “bellyaching” does not refute the history; it simply expresses frustration that the history is still being discussed.
Why do Blacks talk about slavery ad nauseam? I guarantee if Blacks stop talking slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation (same thing as Jim Crow), no one would be talking about it. But Blacks cannot let it go because it is used as a cudgel to beat over the head of Whites and keep DEI and such going. Get a life!
Here is the truth you are not seeing…..They don’t. I think it is just you getting upset anytime someone brings up the topic….NOT that they bring it up all the time.
Yes, Blacks do, professor. Slavery and Jim Crow are always in the background. They are in the form of affirmative action, DEI, HR departments, quotas, EEOC, intersectionality, Democrat party, and MWBE. Attend gatherings of members of Black churches, Black caucuses and the NAACP and the discussions are undeniable.
TERMLIMITS,
Arguing with this little boy is equivalent to urinating into fast moving air. And I will concede I have been guilty of it myself time to time, something I’m trying to break myself of. And like other of his ilk, he feeds on the attention.
And BTW, on a different note, Alan and I have been talking about the (National Socialist) Democrat Party for a while now and have ignored. Now look around. Maybe we have been the canary in the coal mines. Think about it.
Sons of Liberty.