Juneteenth: Walmart Sells Everything

Juneteenth is now a nationally recognized holiday. If you haven't heard of it, it's the day that the Union Army liberated the last of the enslaved people in the US. They rode into town and decreed "you were freed two years ago" and the 250,000 newly emancipated people celebrated. The following year they celebrated again, but then some laws came down that prohibited black people from publically celebrating anything ever. Even emancipation. Juneteenth was still observed privately by families and churches, but public celebrations were legally forbidden to black people - for about 100 years (and counting). Fast forward 156 years and now corporations are celebrating right along with everyone else by selling Juneteenth plates, cups, wine, and ice cream. It was the Juneteenth Ice Cream that raised some eyebrows - mostly maybe because Walmart tried to trademark Juneteenth (which is like trying to trademark "Thanksgiving" or "Christmas") but also maybe because it was a rip off of a black owned ice cream brand but also maybe because it was just plain distasteful (c'mon, you have to give us that pun!). 13% of the US population is black, but 21% of Walmart's employees are black. Somehow none of those black employees were in the decision room when someone decided to trademark the word Juneteenth and someone else decided "it's the freedom for me" would make a great slogan. Hi, Walmart - we thought we were clear with the Christmas Sweater fiasco but apparently not clear enough: you need to call us and ask for our input before you ever release another product. We'll be glad to pitch in, and with our help, you'll never again have to appear as a special guest star on Apologies Accepted, the podcast.