When You Watched TV: June 13, 2020 in Salt Lake City

When you watched TV, maybe you were glancing through your cell phone, scrolling down with your thumb until it stopped on an interesting story. There have been a few, right? Maybe it was an article about Covid-19; maybe it was about the ongoing protests happening daily. Or maybe it was about your beloved Utah Jazz--again. What did they do this time, you wondered. As you pondered what this story might be about, you discovered early in the week of June 13 that the Jazz would now designate Juneteenth, or June 19, as a paid company holiday. 

For those who aren't familiar with Juneteenth, it is "an unofficial American holiday and an official Texas state holiday, celebrated annually on the 19th of June in the United States to commemorate Union army general Gordon Granger's reading of federal orders in the city of Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, proclaiming all slaves in Texas were now free." 

When you watched TV, or maybe you were on Facebook you couldn't help but look at all the comments from Jazz fans who took two positions on the subject. One faction--that which appeared in the majority of the research I did--supported the move to make Juneteenth a company holiday across the Jazz basketball organization and all affiliations, including the Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment family of companies. 

This holiday designation included not only the Jazz but the Salt Lake Bees, Megaplex Theatres, Vivint Arena and The Zone Sports Network. "In the midst of the national conversation and calls for racial justice, our franchise has made the decision to pause, work to further educate ourselves, and reflect on our country’s race relations both past and present by observing Juneteenth,” Jazz president Jim Olson said in a statement. He concluded his remarks by adding, “This is an important milestone in our history and another step for us to learn more about freedom for all and the fight for equality, and ideally be part of helping to create meaningful change.”

When you watched TV, what channel were you watching, CNN or Fox News? Were you getting your information from mainstream media or from the fringe? Did you happen to learn about Juneteenth in a classroom as a child, or did you learn about it in college? Did you learn about it at all before now? Most Americans seem to be aware of it. In two separate polls, the majority of Americans said they would welcome Juneteenth a national holiday. In the USA Today, for example, two-thirds of Americans in a recent Harris Poll said they wanted Juneteenth designated as a national day. Another poll in the New York Post stated that 52 percent wanted one. 

To that end, the other position from Jazz fandom was quite vocal against the Jazz having a Juneteenth company holiday. One thing that you're seeing across the spectrum of Utah residents during this pandemic and resultant civil unrest, unfortunately, is division. You see it in those who are pro-mask and anti-mask as the pandemic unfolds and in those who believe Black Lives Matter versus those who think All Lives Matter during the ongoing protests. 

Donovan Mitchell, who has been the unofficial mouthpiece of the Jazz during the pandemic and its most visible player by far, made his opinion on BLM heard loud and clear in a retweet yet there is a certain subset of Jazz fans who disagree with him. The same holds true with some fans' opinions on Juneteenth though they're in the minority. And Mitchell, who is usually quiet and diplomatic to a fault, let his opinion be known to those Jazz fans as the sun set on Salt Lake City. "Can't see how yall can openly cheer for us then when it comes to this be against us so openly!" he tweeted--just one of several tweets he sent on this day in Utah Jazz history. How that message will be received remains to be seen.