More than 100 residents gathered at Rolling Ridge Apartments on Sunday to celebrate Juneteenth, which was recently named a federal holiday.
But some attendees noted the Juneteenth federal holiday was largely a symbolic gesture in the wake of numerous states looking to ban critical race theory in classrooms. Critical race theory is a decades-old academic concept examining how race and racism shaped U.S. history, and how laws and systems today perpetuate racism. It s like a huge oxymoron a slap in the face almost, said Broderick Flannigan, one of the organizers of Sunday s celebration, which was delayed a week because of rain. They re scared of us learning that history because that will change the landscape in a way, and people will become more aware of why things are the way they are.