Juneteenth banner in South Carolina featuring white couple goes viral for the wrong reasons: reports

A banner for a Juneteenth celebration in Greenville, South Carolina, that features a white couple has been a topic of discussion on the Internet recently, with the organization responsible now apologizing and promising to take them down, according to news sources.

“An upstate celebration of freedom, unity & love,” the banner, promoting an upcoming “Juneteenth GVL” event, reads, while also featuring a photo of a white man and white woman smiling.

The banner has gone viral on social media with many saying the decision to use white models for a Black holiday has made them cringe.

Some even say it’s an attempt to “whitewash” the event.

“This is how Black History gets completely distorted, repackaged, to be palatable for white Americans…and erased,” one Twitter user wrote. “This is 100% doing harm. This is 100% buying into the idea we can’t be whole on our own. Not even for one day.”

According to the organization’s website, Juneteenth GVL Inc. was co-founded by three Black men and has an all-Black board and team. They began hosting Greenville’s annual Juneteenth event in 2022, The Daily Beast reported.

“Juneteenth GVL would like to offer an apology to the community for the presence of non-black faces being represented on two flags representing Juneteenth,” the event’s founder Rueben Hays said in a statement posted to Twitter Thursday afternoon. “We acknowledge this mistake having been made and will correct the error quickly.

“This error was an attempt at uniting all of Greenville and thereby a slight oversight on one individual’s part that prevented us from fully embracing the rich potential and celebrating the depth of black culture through the message and meaning of Juneteenth.

“We take full responsibility for this misstep. Our dedicated team has worked tirelessly to curate remarkable Juneteenth experiences…and we anticipate a beautiful celebration that everyone will be pleased with and proud of.

“Moving forward, we are committed to ensuring that our events fully the diversity, inclusivity, and historical significance of Juneteenth,” the statement said.

Hayes defended the banner on Wednesday, saying it signified that the event was for everyone. The banner was one of 10 designs posted and hung throughout the downtown area, with other posters showing Black, Asian, and Hispanic residents, The State reported.

Additionally, Hayes’ said the federal holiday, celebrated on June 19, doesn’t belong to one group. He said the organization has a vision to broaden the celebration to promote healing among divided communities.

“We did not want to make this exclusively Black,” Hays said. “That is not in the spirit of unity.”

In addition to an apology within the statement and a pledge for future events to reflect diversity, inclusivity and historical significance, Hayes said the board has worked for eight months to plan various events.

Bruce Wilson, who has organized a Juneteenth event for the past two years at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts, was barred from using the venue this year due to Juneteenth GVL, which held its event last year at a different location.

Wilson said he intends to sue the Peace Center for breach of contract if they don’t cancel Juneteenth GVL, The State reported.

Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. It became a federal holiday in 2021.

Read more via The State.