In this episode of "Woke America, Inc."...

Remember, as a child, the magic of Christmas Eve and how you felt? Families gathered to begin celebrating the most joyous holiday of the year, while young kids, filled with great expectations, set out milk and cookies for Santa — with mom or dad's help. Family traditions were created that last a lifetime.

Welp, beginning in 2024, employees of Emory Healthcare, the largest hospital system in Georgia, will be forced to use paid time off to celebrate Christmas Eve with their families. Emory announced on August 31 that it was scrapping Christmas Eve from its paid holiday calendar — and adding Juneteenth. 

In addition, employees will now be able to earn extra holiday pay for working on Juneteenth but not on Christmas Eve.

Unbelievable? Of course not — nothing the left does should surprise us anymore.

As my colleague Jeff Charles wrote in June 2021, in an article titled "HOT TAKES: The Left Exploits Juneteenth to Push Their So-Called Progressive Agenda":

Juneteenth is a holiday intended to celebrate the end of slavery in the Confederate states. It has been celebrated by the black community and other Americans for almost 150 years. (See: Juneteenth Is a Perfect Opportunity to Weave All the Threads Into the Fabric of America’s Tapestry)

So, it comes as no surprise the leftists decided to use this year’s Juneteenth celebration to continue promoting their so-called progressive agenda. 

[...]

Suffice it to say, these folks are more concerned with politicking than appreciating the day Republicans ended slavery in the Confederate states. Go figure.

An outrage? Of course, it is. 

In reference to the forthcoming change at Emory Healthcare, CEO Joon Sup Lee wrote in an email to employees:

We hope this will allow more opportunities for celebration, reflection, and education," Emory Healthcare CEO Joon Sup Lee wrote in an email to employees. "[D]iversity, equity, and inclusion at Emory Healthcare (EHC) is about creating an environment of true belonging for our patients and team members, while ensuring equitable outcomes for all."

To minimize impact to patient care, we will not be adding another paid holiday to our calendars. Rather, beginning January 2024, we will remove Christmas Eve from our holiday calendar and replace it with Juneteenth.

One question, Dr. Lee: 

How does dumping Christmas Eve constitute diversity and inclusion? (Merriam-Webster definitions only, please.) It doesn't. On the contrary, removing Christmas Eve from the paid holidays calendar and replacing it with Juneteenth intentionally does the opposite: it demonstrates exclusion and a lack of diversity. 

Unshockingly, not everyone was happy with the healthcare system's decision. 

Hospital employees told Atlanta News First that the change would pit Christian and African American holidays against each other. Of course, it will. And, of course, that was the exact reason the blatant change was made. 

Even Edwina Clanton, the president of the NAACP chapter in Emory’s county, warned of anti-black backlash.

I’m sure it will put anger in some hearts. Why do we have to do this?

"We have to do this," Ms. Clanton, because woke corporations continue to pander to various segments of American society, intentionally at the expense of others. "Diversity, equity, and inclusion," you know. 

The Bottom Line

Let me be crystal clear here. 

I'm not minimizing the importance or meaning of Juneteenth to a segment of the population, but I am calling BS on the either/or nonsense of intentionally kicking Christmas Eve to the curb in favor of a race-focused holiday.