Candace Owens slammed after calling Juneteenth 'ghetto and made up'
It's Juneteenth, the anniversary of the final enslaved persons being freed in Texas in the wake of the Civil War, which in 2021 was officially recognized as a new federal holiday. But right-wing commentator Candace Owens decided to make it clear she thinks the holiday, also known as Emancipation Day, is worthless.
"Juneteenth is still ghetto and made up," she tweeted on Monday. "Hope everyone enjoys it!"
Commenters on social media, particularly Black commenters, were quick to express their outrage.
"It’s the day that the last bit of slaves were finally free. How is that ghetto and made up?" wrote @zeneeofkonoha.
"One of the MANY reasons why the Republican Party will never get the black vote. That racist undertone always finds away to pop out. Don’t y’all get tired of associating black culture with words like 'ghetto, thug, hood,'" wrote @Loc_Gals.
"New Flash Klandice…every holiday is made up and we didn’t need your approval to enjoy it!!!" wrote @CoachFerg386.
"Only in America can a Black woman condemn a holiday that celebrates the liberation of her people to curry favor with White people. #Juneteenth," wrote @mo2dmax.
Another commenter, @ppPepoComfy, had a more long-winded takedown: "Reminder that Juneteenth is the holiday commemorating the emancipation of African-American slaves Candace Owens will mock today because she's paid by billionaires to spread propaganda to validate racist white people who would rather we go back to the Jim Crow era."
Owens, who has worked with the right-wing and the often racism-plagued student group Turning Point USA and heads up what she calls the "BLEXIT" movement encouraging fellow Black people to leave the Democratic Party, has already attacked Juneteenth before, according to Newsweek's Andrew Stanton:
"In a series of tweets, she described it as 'emotional programming for black people that choose to opt in to the perpetual victim mentality.' 'Juneteenth is soooo lame. Democrats really need to stop trying to repackage segregation. I'll be celebrating July 4th and July 4th only. I'm American,' Owens wrote."
Owens has also gotten in trouble for other controversial remarks. At a British conference in December 2018, she suggested Nazi leader Adolf Hitler would have been fine if he had simply wanted to "make Germany great" and stuck to implementing his policies within his own borders.
