Celebrating Juneteenth in Greenville SC 2023

Juneteenth is an annual celebration on June 19th that celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. Like many places across the country, Greenville SC will be participating in commemorating this national holiday. Unfortunately, there was a recent controversy that brought negative national attention to the city.

Greenville Juneteenth Banner

City organizers in charge of the Juneteenth events in the Upstate posted a banner that featured white models on it. Many people who reacted were offended because they felt it wasn’t appropriate given the holiday celebrates the freedom of African-Americans. Reuben Hays, who co-founded the group, Juneteenth GVL, which was responsible for the banner, initially defended the decision. Expressing that it was an attempt to promote unity by featuring different banners with white models, Hispanic models, and black models.

It’s a point on the surface that seems understandable. But then there was a joke someone made that kind of showed how the banner may come across the wrong way.

The user depicted a poster showcasing all of these different people representing a banner celebrating something they had no association with. At best, it’s confusing, which takes away from the purpose that was trying to be accomplished. Perhaps the intent to promote unity would have been better accomplished with a black model in all of the photos with a model of a different race.

Juneteenth GVL Megafest

It should be applauded that the organization listened, apologized, and chose to remove the banners. As the controversy has started to fade away, hopefully more people can focus on the celebration itself again. There will be many events in the Upstate commemorating the holiday, including the Juneteenth GVL Mega Fest in downtown Greenville. There will be art, music, games, food, and live bands. It’ll be a fun event for the whole family.