While Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the date that the last enslaved people of the Confederacy in Texas heard about the Emancipation Proclamation, it is also a day that celebrates Black culture and breaking free from the struggles that Black Americans face today, which is why it’s so inspiring that this all-white tech startup is taking the day off for it!
To freedom!!!
Ugenix is a new app that analyzes their users’ DNA, and even though the company doesn’t have any Black people on its staff, they are still triumphantly celebrating the day of freedom for African Americans by taking the whole day off for themselves.
“We believe that Juneteenth is an extremely important holiday for our nation,” CEO of Ugenix, John Stacie Lyman, told us. “That’s why I’ve encouraged everyone at our company to really think about what it means to be Black in America on this day, which is especially important to do since we’re all white.”
Wow! Thank you for doing the work, king!
However, the contracted maintenance staff and security team don’t seem to have the same enthusiasm about the newly made national holiday.
“I don’t think the government should have made it a federal holiday,” maintenance worker Laurie Thompson said. “I mean, I still have to go to work on the public holiday of Juneteenth even though I’m Black, so how can I truly celebrate the day of freedom for my people if I still have to clean up white people’s messes all day?”
But despite these workers having to work through the federal holiday that was originally supposed to be for them, the all-white staff at Ugenix is definitely gonna have a blast on the now public holiday on Monday!
“I can’t wait to have a cookout on my corner and invite all my neighbors over!” said CFO Margaret Mayweather, who lives in a gated all-white neighborhood.
That’s right: Juneteenth is for all Americans now! Especially the ones who know their ancestry and have the privilege to take time off! Yay!
