Vox Sentences - A MAGA rally on Juneteenth

Trump schedules a controversial rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth; the European Union considers opening borders to boost its tourism industry. 

Tonight's Sentences was written by Catherine Kim.

• President Donald Trump is facing backlash for holding his first rally since the pandemic began on Juneteenth in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of the infamous 1921 Tulsa race massacre. [The Hill / Marty Johnson] 
• Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger emancipated slaves in Galveston, Texas. It's the oldest regular celebration of the end of slavery in the US. [CNN / Harmeet Kaur]
• To hold a rally in Tulsa on this holiday is particularly infuriating to many considering the city's dark history: A white mob rioted and ravaged Greenwood District, a thriving African American business district also known as "Black Wall Street," 99 years ago. An estimated 300 people were killed. [AP / Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Lemire] 
• The issue is more controversial considering that the nation is being rocked by protests against systemic racism following the police killing of George Floyd, who died after an officer pinned him by the neck with his knee for several minutes. Meanwhile, Trump has consistently criticized and threatened the protesters. [USA Today / Courtney Subramanian]
• Trump denies any ill intentions and said the scheduling of the rally was a coincidence. He then said his rally was a "celebration," and boasted about the size of the crowds he attracts. [Forbes / Carlie Porterfield] 
• As the threat of Covid-19 remains present, Trump is also making all attendees sign away their rights to sue the campaign if they contract the virus at the event. [NYT / Jenny Gross]
• Many of Trump's critics argue the rally is a bad idea for both racial justice and public safety. Sen. Kamala Harris is just one of the many lawmakers who've expressed their anger: "This isn't just a wink to white supremacists—he's throwing them a welcome home party," she tweeted. [Guardian / Peter Beaumont] 

• The European Union is inching toward a new normal in the travel industry as its members begin to discuss opening borders to outsiders. [Forbes / Tamara Thiessen] 
• The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, has recommended that its members open up domestic borders by June 15 and selected countries outside the bloc by July 1. Whether countries will oblige remains to be seen. [AP / Lorne Cook]
• The criteria for non-EU travelers will be strict. The country the traveler comes from can't have travel bans imposed on any EU nation. And the traveler's country has to have a similar (or better) handling of Covid-19 as Europe. Basically, it will be a while until Americans will be able to travel to Europe. [WSJ / Laurence Norman]
• The push for opening up borders reflects the bloc's desire to fuel its tourism industry, which makes up about 10 percent of the total EU GDP. It's been hit hard by the pandemic, and officials are desperate to bring in visitors by the summer, which is usually their busiest season. [Bloomberg / Jonathan Stearns]
• EU nations are essentially making their own travel "bubble," an agreement among certain countries to open up their borders to one another while shutting out the rest of the world. It's an effective way to monitor and manage the risk of the virus entering the country through a foreigner, and it could be the future of travel as the pandemic rages on. [NYT / Paige McClanahan] 

[NPR / Barbara Campbell and Suzanne Nuyen]

• Arizona is seeing an alarming surge in coronavirus cases after it reopened its economy, and experts are concerned that the state's health care system could collapse –– soon. [CNBC / Noah Higgins-Dunn]

• Today marks four years since 49 people were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, one of the worst mass shootings in modern US history. Lawmakers plan to build a permanent memorial for the victims by 2022. [CNN / Scottie Andrew]

• On the two-year anniversary of Trump and Kim Jong Un's first summit, North Korea announced it will cut ties with the US and continue to build its military forces. [NBC News / Adela Suliman]

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[Sherry Gamble Smith, president of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce, on Trump's Juneteenth rally]

Ezra and Matt on the return of a virus that never went away. [Spotify / Ezra Klein and Matt Yglesias]