MSNBC host Joy Reid asserted that Juneteenth, not the Fourth of July, represents the true day of American freedom, claiming that Black Americans do not typically celebrate Independence Day. Reid expressed these views during a conversation with MSNBC analyst Alex Wagner on her YouTube show.
"I can promise you, black folks, we will take that day off, we will barbecue because we [are] off, but nobody black I know is really excited about the 4th of July," Reid said. She characterized July 4th as a celebration for slaveholders who sought to free themselves from British taxation.
Reid drew a parallel between the Black American perspective on the Fourth of July and that of Indigenous peoples regarding Thanksgiving, suggesting a similar sentiment of alienation from a national holiday. "Whereas Juneteenth to me is the real thing that Fourth of July is, because we really were not a democracy until we ended slavery," Reid stated, adding that the U.S. did not truly become a democracy until the aftermath of the Civil War and the enforcement of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which she noted took until the 1960s.
Wagner agreed with Reid's sentiment, suggesting Juneteenth as a response to questions about patriotism. The discussion also touched on the representation of America. Reid argued that former President Donald Trump accurately reflects the majority of American history, while contrasting him with former President Barack Obama, whom she described as representing America's aspirations for improvement.
Reid also commented on President Abraham Lincoln's historical stance on slavery, suggesting he was "highkey racist" and once proposed sending Black people back to Africa. She stated that the nation was not a true democracy until slavery was abolished and that full democratic ideals were not realized until post-Civil War amendments were enforced in the 1960s.