Celebrating Black Independence Day, Honoring the Divine Nine

just what we need, more racism in the name of 'equality'.

Thanks for this post, and the link to the biographies. I look forward to visiting when the memorial is complete (I've never been to the Liberty Bell)

In Australia, "Australia Day" is often called "Invasion Day" because of the history involving Aboriginal peoples, and increasing numbers of people from all backgrounds refuse to celebrate it until everyone is represented. I've been wondering whether there was a US equivalent focused on Independence Day, so thanks for posting this. Is there a similar response by Native Americans?

Texas celebrates Juneteenth, remembering that on the 19th of June in 1865, the order was issued freeing all slaves in the state. I understand many other states are now celebrating this holiday, also.

just what we need, more racism in the name of 'equality'.

Yeah fuckwit, talking about the history of American slavery is "racism".

Wow, I learned something interesting today. Thanks Zuska.

I am always surprised by the lack of Black Americans in any historical context. I guess that is due to the powerless position that was thrust upon them throughout most of American history, but these were people too.

They occupied the US for as long as Whites had, they lived life (often a very hard one) in the USA just like anybody else and made a strong mark covering every section and historical era of your country.

It's also interesting to see this darker side of Washington; although I already knew of his ownership of slaves.

Thanks again, I think have a bit of reading to do.

May I add "flaming rectal distillate" to the characterization of Enneract? By what theory of logic could equality be considered racism?

Z, I'm really glad you posted this. We Yankees often grow up with this idealized version of American history - we'd take class trips to Philly and I lived there for four years yet still had no idea about the Divine Nine and Washington having slaves in the then-national capital while freemen were just that.

Southern kids seem to learn a lot more about black history - while some remain racist, I find that many folks down here spend a lot of time thinking about how to reconcile their liberal views of social justice today while their British ancestors were highly likely to own slaves. It's terrific to see that kids in the Northeast will have to learn more about slavery than they might otherwise when visiting the Liberty Bell like I did as a kid.

We tend to celebrate Juneteenth - commemoration of the 19 June 1865 declaration of emancipation among slaves in Galveston, TX. While the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves effective New Year's Day 1863, news didn't travel to Texas for another two years, in part because news could be kept from the slaves by the Confederate soldiers. Juneteenth occurred about two months after the Confederate surrenders at Appomattox and Bennett Place.

A couple dozen states now recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday - only a few in the South but, as you might expect, it's pretty big in Texas.

P.S. I saw that the Inky discussed the event and landmark on the 4th here.

Abel, thanks for that link!

Scienceblogs is a funny place. There are wonderful posts like this one, and then there are references to PLoS as "the nigger of the publishing world" (care of Greg Laden).

Comment #3 above, from bill, asks if there is a similar response by Native Americans. Instead of celebrating Thanksgiving, some Native Americans hold a National Day of Mourning on the fourth Thursday in November.

Something else said of George Washington is that the mere mention of his name caused regional Native Americans to cry because of his reputation as a ruthless Indian killer.

Samia, yes, Sb is a funny place (as is the blogosphere generally) in that people occasionally say some intentionally or unintentionally wacky stuff. Sometimes they apologize, sometimes someone takes them to task, sometimes it is best to let it go. Even those who make a complete knucklehead of themselves regularly also have nuggets of tasty blogging.

One of the best parts of Sb, I find, are the commenters who are reliable about raising the shenanigans flag, as you do here. So thanks for that.

When people tell me to let something go, I consider the source of that sentiment. It usually comes from someone in the majority. Just something I've noticed. I try not to let that cloud the situation at hand too much, but it's a damn convenient coincidence that the people who tell me to calm down about all manner of stupid shit are people who have no direct reason to be as offended as I. I notice a lot of racism in my real life, I come to science sites to relax and try to enjoy the company of more educated people, and I am that much more surprised when I see weird stuff here. I'm not losing sleep over Greg's blog, believe me. And if I thought all of SB, or even that other dude's blog, was worthless, I would never read it. Thanks for your kind words.

ah, yes. well the thing about educated people is that they suffer this little occupational hazard of thinking that they are infallible. because, you know, a lot of the time they do know what in the heck they are talking about. and not infrequently are the most progressive person they know with substantial effort in their past to demonstrate same. so when they goof up, well, they have a hard time backing down.

perhaps obviously, going by my recent blog post, I do not say this to excuse anyone's behavior....