WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump has bowed to pressure over an election rally scheduled to take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the “Juneteenth” anniversary that commemorates the end of U.S. slavery, and said he was pushing the event back by a day.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump is applauded as he attends a roundtable discussion with members of the faith community, law enforcement and small business at Gateway Church Dallas Campus in Dallas, Texas, U.S., June 11, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Trump’s decision to hold his first campaign rally in months on June 19 in a city notorious for a 1921 massacre of its black citizens had prompted fierce criticism, especially in the face of nationwide protests against racial inequality and police brutality against African Americans.
“Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this Holiday,” Trump wrote on Twitter late on Friday. “I have therefore decided to move our rally to Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their requests.”
June 19th, known by African Americans as Freedom Day, commemorates the date in 1865 when Texas was forced to comply with President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation declaring all people held as slaves free – the last of the pro-sl