Let’s be clear: No president, not even Donald Trump, can eliminate Juneteenth with the stroke of a pen. It’s a federal holiday, signed into law in 2021 with overwhelming bipartisan support. The only way to repeal it is through Congress, and that’s not happening.
But what is happening is quieter, and in many ways, more dangerous: the meaning behind Juneteenth is being chipped away.
Despite recognizing it in his first term, this year, the Trump White House made no formal acknowledgment of the holiday. No proclamations. No events. No mention. The absence isn’t a repeal — it’s a choice. And it’s a loud one.
Online, #Juneteenth remains filled with pride and celebration — flag photos, historical reflections, family cookouts. But there’s also a shift in tone. Users ask: How do we honor this holiday without whitewashing it? Without commodifying it? The energy is there, but so is the caution.
It’s a mixed bag with how people honor the holiday. Some retailers like Target and Kroger’s remain open with regular hours. But the stock market is closed as this is an official federal holiday. Some larger towns like Houston are planning large celebrations, while it’s often the smaller towns that need to cancel or scale back their plans, like Plano, Ill., citing sponsor pullouts and fear of political backlash. Meanwhile, places like Portsmouth, N.H., are going all in with hosting history tours, film screenings and events led by descendants of both enslaved people and Founding Fathers.
The divide is real.
Trump doesn’t need Congress to gut the impact of Juneteenth. He and others, including a January memo at the Pentagon, just need to keep defunding DEI efforts, canceling cultural programming and staying publicly silent. That’s how you erase something without technically ending it.
Today, the NAACP posted on X (Twitter) that Juneteenth is “a legacy of resilience and resistance and a reminder of the ongoing fight to build a future rooted in equity and justice.” That fight is at risk of being overshadowed by silence and shrinking celebrations across the country.
#Juneteenth isn’t just a date. It’s a legacy of resilience and resistance and a reminder of the ongoing fight to build a future rooted in equity and justice.
We don’t just remember what was delayed.
We celebrate how far we’ve come.
We honor the power we carry.
Today, we… pic.twitter.com/9tNFPQCKYa
— NAACP (@NAACP) June 19, 2025
Juneteenth isn’t just a date. It’s a story of delayed justice, of struggle, of triumph. If we stop telling it, stop funding it, stop honoring it, we won’t need a repeal. We’ll have already lost it.
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