Yes, Juneteenth Should Be a Work Holiday — but for the Right Reasons
A day off is great, but after 155 years, it’s hard not to see companies as being opportunistic all over again
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
When Jack Dorsey announces that Juneteenth will be a company-wide holiday, the first thing that leaps to mind is that even a broken clock is right twice a day. On Tuesday, the Twitter and Square CEO and staunch defender of “free speech” — aka an internet that fosters unchecked White supremacy and other bigotry — tweeted that his businesses would recognize June 19, the day enslaved African Americans won their freedom from bondage.
Coming on the heels of similar announcements from media companies (Vox, The 19th) and ad agencies (TBWA Worldhealth), Dorsey’s move makes it hard not to imagine a pack of businesses and legislatures following suit. But while the effort to recognize a holiday Black folks have celebrated from jump should be commended, the skinfolk are acutely sensitive — particularly now — to the performed advocacy of Black interest.
We’re seeing it everywhere. Brands big and small are going all in on wrapping up their historically exploitative practices…
