The embrace of the June holiday by American companies is empty for many

As a diversity consultant, Dee Marshall instructs Wall Street Bank on how to create a more hospitable workplace for people of color. You would think that when her client asks for help planning to celebrate June Festival, she will be very excited.

It turns out that there are not so many.

“Black people are not excited about this,” said Marshall, CEO of consulting group Diverse & Engaged.

after that Murdered by police George Floyd (George Floyd) caused mass protests in the United States last year and triggered racial reconciliation. The American business community took June Festival as a part of commemorating black Americans and demonstrating their commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Kind of way.

A compound word on June 19th, June Festival is to commemorate the day when Federal Army General Gordon Granger marched into Galveston, Texas in 1865 to release the last enslaved black Americans—— A few months after the surrender of the Allies in the Civil War, more than two years later, President Abraham Lincoln officially announced the end of slavery.

While some black Americans appreciate the late recognition of the June festival by American companies by designating June as a paid holiday, others, such as Marshall, complain that it feels like an empty gesture—especially when many The company has yet to fulfill the promise of diversity that Freud made at the height of the protests.

“This is to commemorate what makes more sense to the people? I don’t think they will be very excited because of the Juneteenth incident. They will be very excited when there is a real change in the organization,” Marshall said.

In any case, the June Festival is now the cornerstone of many companies’ racial justice efforts, and companies such as Lyft, Colgate, and BP have promoted their adoption of this festival in their social impact and diversity reports.

According to a survey by employer consulting firm Mercer (Mercer), about 9% of companies this year will take a holiday in June, compared with 55% of Martin Luther King (Jr Day).President Joe Biden Sign the bill June 11 is designated as a federal holiday, the 11th day in the country.

Soon after the civil rights leader was assassinated in 1968, the movement to establish MLK Day began and was finally signed into law in 1983.

The debate over the status of the federal holiday for June Day comes as the United States struggles to remember how to remember its history of institutionalized racism. Republicans in 20 states have passed legislation restricting the use of critical racial theory in public schools, an academic strategy used to examine institutions from a racial perspective. Conservatives worry that discussions on the legacy of discriminatory policies in the United States may fuel anti-American sentiment.

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edmar Basic wrote on Twitter earlier this week: “Even today, when conservatives try to erase history by attacking critical racial theories and understanding the impact of systemic racism, we stand Admit the truth here.” “We will make #Juneteenth a federal holiday.”

Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African American studies at Duke University, observed that although African Americans in the southern and southwestern states commemorated this holiday with family reunions, picnics and block parties, Before that, Freud “has never had a national follower” was murdered in late May 2020.

“For many companies, this is a low-hanging fruit,” Neal said of the company’s advancement in Juneteenth. This date came in the outcry of black life issues last year, just as many companies scrambled to resolve racism publicly for the first time.

“If June Festival were in October, this would not happen,” Marshall said.

Several companies, such as Nike, Square and Mastercard, which are the first to designate June 1 as a corporate holiday by offering a day of vacation or overtime, said they plan to do the same this year.

But in general, the commemoration was significantly quieter. On June 1st last year, General Motors suspended work for 9 minutes-the time that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Freud’s neck-in memory of Freud, The company stated that this year’s plan includes “volunteer service and community involvement.”

Opponents of the holiday cited the economic cost of missing work. Republican Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin Blocked The legislation of June 1 last year estimated that the annual cost of federal employees alone was $600. The Office of U.S. Affairs Management stated that because June 19 will be a Saturday, most federal employees will take a new June 19 holiday on Friday.

Dakasha Winton, chief government relations officer and black executive of Tennessee insurance company BlueCross BlueShield, said that the educational focus of many companies’ June celebrations made them worthwhile.

“Even if this is your first time doing something, at least you are taking steps to do something, this is the key,” Winton said.

The diversity working group of RF Binder, a New York-based public relations organization, voted to add June Festival to its list of paid holidays and cancel the honor of Christopher Columbus, another 15th-century Italian explorer, in order to make room for it space.

CEO Amy Binder said: “Abandoning the June Festival of Columbus Day, there are some very meaningful things.” “Columbus Day celebrates the Western world invading a country and taking it from Native Americans Go, maybe this is not a good concept.”

For Marshall, recognition of the June Festival is only meaningful to black employees when they become part of a cohesive diversity, fairness, and inclusion program.

“This day is not just a celebration of the past,” Biden said shortly before signing the holiday into law. “It demands action today.”