By Alliance President Terry Gips
It was wonderful to see so many positive celebrations throughout the country for Juneteenth — which celebrates Black freedom from slavery, the day the last slaves were told that they were freed.
However, one person was not only AWOL from the celebration but actually took the occasion to criticize holidays like Juneteenth. See the shocking comments from President Trump and the wide range of anti-Black initiatives he and his administration have been implementing.
Thanks to my friend Gary Cunningham for his powerful comments about what Trump is saying and doing to Black people and their history.
I was aware of many of Trump’s horrible actions but appreciated Gary bringing them all together and truly exposing him in one clear, powerful indictment of him and his racist plan.
I also wasn’t aware of his not so subtle attack on Juneteenth, a day he should be honoring and celebrating…unless he sides with the White Christian Nationalists.
He certainly wants the votes of Black men when there’s an election but then puts on his White robes the rest of the time with his handpicked sycophants and too-scared Republicans who lack the guts to stop this would-be king.
Trump’s All-Out War on Black History
By Gary L. Cunningham via Facebook
ED Note: Gary L. Cunningham was responding to How Trump Treats Black History Differently Than Other Parts of America’s Past by Erica L. Green in the New York Times.
On Juneteenth – the day that commemorates the end of slavery – Donald Trump took to Truth Social to whine about “too many non-working holidays” costing the country “BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.” He couldn’t even say the word “Juneteenth.”
But that’s just the latest shot in a systematic campaign to erase Black people from American history. In March, Trump signed an executive order targeting the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, claiming it promotes “divisive race-centered ideology.” He’s put VP JD Vance in charge of purging what they call “improper ideology” from the museum.
This is the same museum Trump visited in 2017 and called “truly great.” He said then: “What they’ve done here is something that probably cannot be duplicated… It was done with tremendous love and passion and that’s why it’s so great.” Now? It’s apparently too dangerous to exist as is.
Federal agencies have banned celebrations of Black History Month, Juneteenth, and MLK Day under his anti-DEI orders. Communities nationwide are scaling back Juneteenth celebrations because the political climate has made it toxic to sponsor these events.
This goes far beyond museums and holidays. They’ve scrubbed federal websites of Harriet Tubman and Black veterans, cut funding to the only plantation museum dedicated to slavery, and renamed military bases back to Confederate names – erasing honors to the first Hispanic four-star general and Black Medal of Honor recipients. Trump’s executive order even directs agencies to bring back Confederate monuments removed since 2020. This isn’t random – it’s a coordinated campaign to whitewash American history and pretend Black contributions don’t matter.
When the president treats the end of slavery as a productivity problem and attacks the nation’s premier Black history museum for telling the truth about our past, he’s sending a clear message about our place in this country.
Four years after Juneteenth became a federal holiday, it feels like Black people are less free. That’s not an accident. That’s the plan.
The message is clear: your history doesn’t matter, your contributions don’t count, and your freedom is negotiable. We must not remain silent. The time is now to stand up for our values and culture as Americans.