Juneteenth: South Carolina Town Removes Juneteenth Banner Displaying White Couple
Organizers of a Juneteenth event in the town of Greenville, SC are under fire for hanging a banner for the event that displays a white couple
According to NBC-affiliated WYFF4, the banners displaying a white couple and others with Hispanic people were removed and replaced amid outrage citing misrepresentation and poor marketing.
Rueben Hays, a Black founder of Juneteenth Greenville, said the organization’s goal was to represent multiple ethnicities.
"The act of putting these banners up and representing them the way that we wanted them represented was really a decision made by Juneteenth GVL," Hays said. "It was approved by myself, as well as my co-founders. And we feel like they bring the right type of messaging of unity, freedom and love."
The founders of the GVL “mega fest” may have intended for a week of unity (June 10-17), but “were you not aware how problematic that is?” one user said in a tweet.
Greenville activist Bruce Wilson is calling for a boycott of the event.
“I was appalled, " Wilson — who has hosted Juneteenth events — told Fox Carolina. “I’m the first to say that white America can celebrate Juneteenth, I just don’t think white America should be the face of Juneteenth.”
On Thursday (May 25), directors and founders of Juneteenth GVL issued a statement on Facebook:
“While concerns, confusion, and conversations were brought to the team's attention. We wanted to ensure action was taken before we responded. Thank you all for your support and may we continue to celebrate.”
