By Marquise Francis
May 28, 2022
Large corporations that initially sought to cash in on Juneteenth-themed items ahead of the new federal holiday on are now walking back their commercialization efforts after backlash on social media.
On Tuesday, Walmart said it would remove its store-brand ice cream celebrating Juneteenth amid growing condemnation of the retailer trivializing the day for profit.
“Juneteenth holiday marks a celebration of freedom and independence,” the company said in a statement. “However, we received feedback that a few items caused concern for some of our customers and we sincerely apologize. We are reviewing our assortment and will remove items as appropriate.”
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Overall, the commoditization of American holidays is a common occurrence.
“Once any signal event is declared a national holiday, it is subject to potential commercialization,” William Darity, a public policy professor at Duke University and racial equity expert, told Yahoo Finance.
Darity added that the Juneteenth’s national acknowledgement, ironically, may take away from “the compelling need for a comprehensive national program for Black American reparations.”
“Imagine how different the landscape would look if Juneteenth had been designated as a federal holiday after reparations had been paid,” he said.
