Lankford proposes changing Columbus Day with Juneteenth Day

[SoonerP226]

You have. You continue to diminish his accomplishments and advocate an end to Columbus day that a lot of Americans recognize.
Juneteenth didn't happen in June historically. I've already posted the historical time line, so why force a change? Why not let the individual states set their own emancipation dates for their own dates the slaves were set free? If Tx wants to celebrate it on a certain day, go for it. Alabama can set their own dates and create a state holiday. I don't care.
Juneteenth does not need to be a national holiday to celebrate freedom for the slaves in Tx is my entire point.

So, instead of celebrating Independence Day on July 4th, you're saying the 13 original states should celebrate it on the days they ratified the Constitution, and the rest of us should celebrate it on the day our states were admitted into the Union? I guess that would work out well for the former Confederate states, as they'd get the day they ratified or became states, plus the day where they were returned to the Union. Not sure where that leaves Oklahoma, though--do we only get November 16th, or do we get that plus June 23rd (to commemorate Stand Watie's surrender)? Maybe we should get a day for every tribe that surrendered and got relocated to the Nations. Hell, I bet we could get out of work for half the year that way!

 

[TwoForFlinching]

How can Langford say he wasn’t wanting to replace Columbus Day with Juneteenth when he cosponsored a bill to do exactly that?

Removing Columbus Day from the federal list of holidays doesn't remove it from the list of US holidays.

 

[Dale00]

What exactly is the "list of U.S. holidays"? Sounds entirely unofficial....in other words, not a public holiday

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Like "National Donut Day"?

 

[SoonerP226]

Removing Columbus Day from the federal list of holidays doesn't remove it from the list of US holidays.

The one part that puzzles me is when did Lankford start channeling Tom Coburn? I mean, the nerve of that guy, trying to offset a $600 million cost. It's like he's actually a fiscal conservative or something.

 

[SoonerP226]

Like "National Donut Day"?

Or "Flag Day."

 

[Aries]

Summary:

Someone proposed making Juneteenth as a Federal holiday, which would give Federal employees paid day off each year.

Langford supported an amendment to offset that cost by CHANGING (not eliminating) Columbus Day from a Federal holiday to just... a holiday. Rather than ADDING a paid day off to the 10 existing paid days off that Federal (and a lot of other employees get). So it would still be 10 paid holidays, one of which would be Juneteenth instead of Columbus Day.

For those of you who insist that voting and/or calling or writing your representatives does no good... isn't the fact that Langford (and I assume others who supported the amendment) withdrew the amendment apparently based on calls from their constituents an example that this theory is wrong?

 

[SoonerP226]

Here are the o-fficial Federal Holidays for 2020, per the US Gov't.

Date Holiday
Wednesday, January 1 New Year’s Day
Monday, January 20 Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, February 17* Washington’s Birthday
Monday, May 25 Memorial Day
Friday, July 3** Independence Day
Monday, September 7 Labor Day
Monday, October 12 Columbus Day
Wednesday, November 11 Veterans Day
Thursday, November 26 Thanksgiving Day
Friday, December 25 Christmas Day

If making Juneteenth a Federal Holiday was a done deal, per Lankford's letter, and a fiscal conservative wants to offset the cost of the Federal holiday, about the only way to do it is to drop another Federal holiday. So which of those other holidays would you drop? Columbus Day is the only expendable one I see...

 

[donner]

You really are ignorant of that movement. You just proved it. Thank you.
Oh wait, you approve of it and have taken your knee. I see that now.
It wasn't a me thing, you just ignored the comments following. You also failed to acknowledge the agenda posted by these lesbian founders of BLM. By that failure I have to assume you agree with their agenda to take this country down and make it theirs.

ha. you make a lot of assumptions about me already, which my efforts to correct have failed to halt. So why stop now, right?

I didn't realize i had to acknowledge anything about BLM. And again, why the hangup on the lesbian stuff? It's odd.

If you'd like to discuss my feelings about BLM, you may ask me nicely.

 

[donner]

You have. You continue to diminish his accomplishments and advocate an end to Columbus day that a lot of Americans recognize.
Juneteenth didn't happen in June historically. I've already posted the historical time line, so why force a change? Why not let the individual states set their own emancipation dates for their own dates the slaves were set free? If Tx wants to celebrate it on a certain day, go for it. Alabama can set their own dates and create a state holiday. I don't care.
Juneteenth does not need to be a national holiday to celebrate freedom for the slaves in Tx is my entire point.

Lol. By pointing out that Columbus had no direct ties to north america i've somehow diminished his accomplishments? Cute. And, as myself and others have pointed out, the holiday has long been questioned and Columbus ignored as part of it.

You are fine with states celebrating their own emancipation day, but not the federal government recognizing one day for it, like we do for many other days? MLK day, like Columbus day, is determined by the monday it falls in the calendar and not the actual day it was meant to honor. We've selected single days to honor veterans and another day to honor the sacrifices made to our nation throughout the years. Selecting a single date on a calendar to honor more than one moment isn't new.

Heck, we even have set thanksgiving around the idea of allowing for an extra week of shopping in some years, iirc...

I'm sorry that my comments about columbus hurt your feelings, though.