Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took a break from his actual job to deliver a purely political message in celebration of Juneteenth, the new federal holiday added to the calendar by President Joe Biden in 2021 to commemorate the day that blacks in Texas learned that slavery had ended.
Buttigieg, much more of an ambitious political animal than the qualified public servant customarily tasked with such a vital responsibility, marked the occasion by taking to social media with a three-minute speech that was criticized by many Twitter users for his straying out of his designated lane.
The former mayor of the smallish college town of South Bend, Indiana whose top qualification for the cabinet position was being openly gay, has devoted his time on the job to such silliness as the renaming of “racist roads” and spending millions on female crash test dummies to fight crash safety inequity and has proven that he is very adept at the racial pandering that has served the Obama-Biden era Democratic Party so well.
“Juneteenth calls on us to grapple with haunting truths about our country’s history, and also invites us to celebrate all of the ways that black voices and black leadership have shaped the culture, society, and way of life of the United States of America, before and since emancipation,” Buttigieg said. “And, of course, it reminds us of the continuing struggle to advance racial justice in our time.”
Juneteenth calls us to grapple with hard truths from our country’s history while lifting up the ways Black Americans have shaped America’s democracy and society. Wishing every American a meaningful Juneteenth. pic.twitter.com/GlAHzB418s
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) June 19, 2023
“Transportation has been a battleground for civil rights and environmental justice across this country — especially for the descendants of the enslaved people we recognize today. That’s why, at USDOT, we are reinforcing our civil rights programs and advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s vision for racial equity,” he continued, rattling off a list of accomplishments under the Justice40 Initiative, a racially focused administration infrastructure initiative.
“We’re deploying new resources to address the massive racial disparities that we have seen in the data when it comes to roadway deaths and working to save lives on roads and highways in every community nationwide,” added Mayor Pete. “We’re deepening our partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, funding research into cutting-edge transportation technology and recruiting skilled HBCU students and graduates into our workforce. And we have activated a strategic plan focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility to combat discrimination and inequity in our own workplace.”
“These are just some examples of the work that we’re doing at USDOT to address infrastructure barriers and improve transportation equity in communities nationwide. This Juneteenth, I invite you to take a moment to remember our history and remember our place in recommitting to create a more just future for our country,” he concluded.
Reactions to Buttigieg’s racial pandering were brutal with many pointing out his impressive list of shortcomings during his dismal tenure that has been marked by absenteeism at critical times and questions about his priorities, specifically in the case of the environmental catastrophe in East Palestine, Ohio earlier this year when a train derailment unleashed toxic chemicals on residents.
What does this have to do with transportation ? You can’t create a persona we know does not exist, and you’re still not ready for prime time aside from filling pot holes.
— Forester (@Foreste56792766) June 19, 2023
And what does this have to do with transportation?
— Joey – Master of Wit and Sarcasm (@jjstyx) June 19, 2023
The Transportation Secretary is supposed to do ‘transportation’ things. Start.
— Robert Davis (@RobertCDavisTX) June 19, 2023
LOL, super white metrosexual gay guy keeps lecturing everyone on race?
— Gerd Hansma (@gmanndo) June 19, 2023
There are no Racist Roadways. Focus on your job.
— DebAgain (@DebXan) June 19, 2023
Why is the “Secretary of Transportation” even talking about this ??
— TXHCgal (@CgalTxh) June 19, 2023
I hear you grapple with hard things every day. Unfortunately it’s not anything to do with your job.
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) June 19, 2023
Don’t you have a job?
— Nose (@nosethenose) June 19, 2023
A transportation secretary that doesn’t engage in transportation issues.
— DeadRabbit43 (@DeadRabbit43) June 19, 2023
Your party voted unanimously to not end slavery!
— David Croom – (ツ) (@dailycallout) June 19, 2023
It’s a fake holiday and only white liberals celebrate it. Am I wrong?
— ShanMAGASupporter (@MuadDib420) June 19, 2023
“Juneteenth as a federal holiday is meant to breathe new life into the essence of America — to ensure everyone feels the power of the progress we can make,” Biden wrote on Twitter. “It marks the long, hard night of slavery – but the promise of that brighter morning to come. Happy Juneteenth, America.”
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