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Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

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Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#41

Post by jreese »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #32
murat131 wrote: post #23

As long as slavery is still legal and well and alive and kicking in US prison system (thanks to 13th amendment) gestures like this won't mean much.

> Penal labor in the United States is explicitly allowed by the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." What are most prisoners forced to do?

Last Week Tonight on Prison Labor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjqaNQ018zU

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#42

Post by subsaharancoder »

murat131 wrote: post #23

As long as slavery is still legal and well and alive and kicking in US prison system (thanks to 13th amendment) gestures like this won't mean much.

Prison is meant to be a deterrent to crime, don't do the crime if you're not prepared to do the time. Last I checked no one is rounding up innocent people and sending them off to the gallows.

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#43

Post by vfclists »

White people deciding what they feel Black people need.

Black people don't need Juneteenth holidays.

They need respect from the nation's institutions and they need to present and articulate their case for reparations in an emphatic and uncompromising manner.

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#44

Post by paxys »

tinyhouse wrote: post #31
verst wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume they are making it a federal holiday not unlike Columbus Day or Veterans Day. If you work in the private sector the chance you have those days off is fairly low. [Edit: I am not saying that Juneteeth won't get special treatment. See my nested commented in this thread.] State governments may or may not recognize a given federal public holiday.

I guarantee you all private companies will make it a day off.

Very unlikely. Even large corporate employers don't give time off for most federal holidays. I have a cushy tech job and still have to work on MLK day, President's Day, Veteran's Day, Columbus Day.

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#45

Post by jeffbee »

andy_ppp wrote: post #17
standardUser wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't a roll call vote. It's a maneuver wherein the measure passes as long as no one present chooses to object.

To say it is Unanimously Approved is a rather big stretch then.

Most Senate business is unanimous consent. I don't think it's misleading.

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#46

Post by verall »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #32
murat131 wrote: post #23

As long as slavery is still legal and well and alive and kicking in US prison system (thanks to 13th amendment) gestures like this won't mean much.

> Penal labor in the United States is explicitly allowed by the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." What are most prisoners forced to do?

They are "forced" to work at below minimum wage rates both for the government and individual firms in public-private partnerships.

I use "forced" in quotation marks, because although prisoners are no longer forced chain-gang style, these jobs can be a prisoner's only source of money, which is required to purchase communication with the outside world.

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#47

Post by tinyhouse »

Lammy wrote: post #40
murat131 wrote: post #23

As long as slavery is still legal and well and alive and kicking in US prison system (thanks to 13th amendment) gestures like this won't mean much.

> thanks to 13th amendment Same with housing segregation and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act's exceptions: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1691 Just like the 13th still allows slavery for prisoners, the ECOA still allows discrimination if the person can't afford the home, incentivizing the system to make housing as expensive as possible: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/OEHRENWBSHNO

What are you talking about? Are you saying housing is expensive is a discrimination?

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#48

Post by [deleted] »

tick_tock_tick wrote: post #35
eganist wrote: post #16

This is a good symbolic gesture, but making election day a federal holiday equivalent in standing with Christmas would have real and positive impact. But the latter never draws the votes in congress, so that should tell us how meaningless this vote truly was.

I think you really need to put your idea in perspective. Christmas is barely the last hold out for holidays where the people who need time off to vote (retail, food service, other low wage high hour jobs) get at-least a bit of time off and that is being eaten into each year. Do you really think a federal holiday for voting would do anything but start a whole new round of election day door busters that make it even ha…

[deleted]

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#49

Post by mattigames »

subsaharancoder wrote: post #42
murat131 wrote: post #23

As long as slavery is still legal and well and alive and kicking in US prison system (thanks to 13th amendment) gestures like this won't mean much.

Prison is meant to be a deterrent to crime, don't do the crime if you're not prepared to do the time. Last I checked no one is rounding up innocent people and sending them off to the gallows.

Then last time you didn't check very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdvy14fdjj8

Besides that, slavery its not one a valid punishments in civilized nations.

Re: Senate Unanimously Approves a Bill to Make Juneteenth a Public Holiday

#50

Post by tick_tock_tick »

tinyhouse wrote: post #31
verst wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume they are making it a federal holiday not unlike Columbus Day or Veterans Day. If you work in the private sector the chance you have those days off is fairly low. [Edit: I am not saying that Juneteeth won't get special treatment. See my nested commented in this thread.] State governments may or may not recognize a given federal public holiday.

I guarantee you all private companies will make it a day off.

Almost no private company gives every federal holiday off.
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