President Donald Trump announced he rescheduled his first rally since March in Tulsa, Okla., after receiving criticism for originally setting the event on Juneteenth.
June 13 (UPI) — President Donald Trump announced he rescheduled his first rally since March in Tulsa, Okla., after receiving criticism for originally setting the event on Juneteenth.
The original date — June 19 — marks a holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. Between the timing and location, some critics saw the event as insensitive to African Americans, particularly as Black Lives Matter protests sweep the nation.
Tulsa is the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, a bloody event that killed up to 300 African Americans in the Greenwood District, known as « Black Wall Street » for its more than 300 black-owned businesses.
Trump announced on Twitter late Friday night that the rally date would be moved.
« Many of my African-American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for the holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents.
