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A Message from First Lady Melania Trump on Juneteenth
This is a beautifully shot and produced video. First Lady Melania Trump addresses the nation and then reads us a story of the first Juneteenth seen though the eyes of a girl. Any decent human being could find agreement and some common feeling in this.
This follows the first lady’s visit, with Secretary Ben Carson, to the National Archives.
Published in GeneralThe First Lady and Secretary Carson began their visit in the Rotunda to view the three founding documents of America that constitute the Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The First Lady and Secretary Carson continued their visit to the Archivist’s Reception Room to view the 13th Amendment, the 19th Amendment and the 1965 Act that created the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Trevor Plante, director of the Archives Textual Records Division, provided an overview of these documents and pointed out the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the progress it made towards equality following the ideals found in the Charters of Freedom. The proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln during the height of the Civil War and declared the freedom of those who were enslaved. Although the proclamation was limited, and directed only to slaves in certain states, it served as a landmark declaration during the height of a great crisis in the history of America and helped to transform the outcome of the Civil War and the end of slavery.
The First Lady and Secretary Carson also viewed General Order Number 3, the proclamation which was announced on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that all slaves were freed. The document was particularly relevant given its significance to Juneteenth, the annual day of commemoration to celebrate and mark the end of slavery.
At least she accurately described Juneteenth, something like “The oldest celebration of the end of slavery. ”
It wasn’t the end of slavery, it wasn’t even the last day slaves in the confederacy learned they were free, it is just the day some guy landed in Galveston Texas and told the slaves on that island of the Emancipation proclamation.
And of course, the first comment that I can see on the youtube video get it’s totally wrong, “the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South.”
We are a stupid nation. A stupid, stupid nation.
True. If anything, blacks should celebrate the day the 13th amendment was finally ratified, December 6th. Juneteenth is not really an appropriate day because the Emancipation Proclamation was just a piece of paper the southern states didn’t accept . . .
And Juneteenth has nothing to do with the Emancipation Proclamation. It’s just the day some Union guy arrived on Galveston Island in Texas.
Yeah, and the day was when the guy read it in public – something like that. I’m surprised none of the mob has demanded Kwanzaa be made a holiday . . .
I guess over 150 years of Texans and others were just silly, or stupid, or am I missing your bitter point?
Somebody will criticize her shoes.
Watch.
We celebrate the 4th of July, but Declaration of Independence was just a piece of paper not accepted by the government of the time.
No, it’s perfectly fine to celebrate in Texas, but June 19, 1865 is not the end of slavery in the US, it isn’t even the end of Slavery in the confederacy. It’s nothing more than the date some guy landed on Galveston Island in 1865.
Celebrate all you want, but don’t lie about what the date represents.
The end of slavery in America should be celebrated. It was 90 years in the making, so June 19th is as good a day as any to celebrate. Our country should have more holidays to celebrate the greatness of the idea of God-given rights and a country uniquely founded on the idea that government exists to protect those rights. Happy Juneteenth everybody!
Sure. Pick the date of the Emancipation Proclamation or pick the date the 13th Amendment was sent to the states or the date it was ratified by the last state necessary or deemed effective.
Slavery was still legal in the United States on June 19, 1865, it wasn’t outlawed until the final passage of the 13th Amendment in December of 1865. So, by celebrating Juneteenth, you are glossing over the slaves still legally owned under the Constitution.
This isn’t rocket science, it’s just basic history. The problem is, American know squat about basic history.
Ricochet is starting to scare me. I adore everything she said, her poise and her dignity. My major embarrassment about Juneteenth is I was clueless about what it was. Its a date on my Apple iPhone calendar along with a couple of other holidays that are new to me. And no, I never googled it.
I did notice the shoes.
Well now you need to criticize them for the sake of my prediction.
They’re very cool, but I assume that there are fashionistas out there who will go negative just because it’s Melania.
They seem quite cool, not that I would know, but they look more brunch than address from the Winter Palace.
@rightangles – please advise.
Lots of straw men burning here. Let’s apply a simple test: Memorial Day was not made a federal holiday until 1971. So, will you attack Memorial Day as deceptive, driven by ignorance, and meaningless in its date (the last Monday of May)? Given that the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were effectively nullified for nearly a century by collusion among all three branches of the federal government and the two major parties, a ratification date, never organically celebrated, is simply not going to be shoved down as a holiday. After all, we don’t want to gloss over history.
I don’t think the point was that someone on Ricochet would focus on her shoes. It would be someone on YouTube, or NBC, or CBS, or ABC, or CNN, or MSNBC…
It’s a white woman reading a story about a black girl. Appropriation~!
That would be me. They are hideous.
I knew it!
Since she favors Manolo Blahnik or Christian Louboutin pumps, they probably have a price tag in the $800 range. I liked what she wore to the National Archives with Ben Carson. Very sweet coordination with his red and white striped tie.
I find it refreshing that she makes gentle videos and seems to be a very pleasant and kind person. I got really tired of democrat first ladies trying to constantly shove an agenda in my face.
Meh. Nobody thinks Memorial Day is the anniversary of something important and we don‘t lie about it being so.
I’m fine with making Juneteenth the holiday as long as we acknowledge that nothing of significance happened on that date and slavery was still legal in the US for another six months.
Isn’t that the point? That’s exactly what they’re NOT doing?
You are getting different messaging than I am. I’ve been told Juneteenth is the “official day slavery ended in the US” and is celebrating either the anniversary of the end of slavery or the end of slavery in the Confederacy, neither of which is true.
That is why I made my first comment in this thread.
Maybe that’s part of the problem right there, actually making it June 19th. Move it to some other day, maybe a “floating” day like many other “holidays” to allow for weekend observations etc, and thus unlink it from even the idea that “something happened on this date in history.”