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Members of South Carolinas NAACP will march in protest of a secession ball in Charleston later this month which will commemorate the 150th anniversary of South Carolinas secession from the Union.
State NAACP leaders held two press conferences Friday, spreading the word they will protest the ball and any other sesquicentennial events that they deem disrespectful.
We are not opposed to observances, said Lonnie Randolph, state president of the NAACP. We are opposed to disrespect.
South Carolina Celebrates Secession | FrumForum
Can you celebrate secession without celebrating slavery? That question seems to be the core tension surrounding the upcoming celebrations of the American Civil Wars 150-year anniversary. The New York Times recently reported on a series of events over the next four years that commemorate the sesquicentennial, including a Secession Ball, a candlelight memorial at Antietam, a parade in Montgomery, Alabama, and a mock swearing-in of the Confederacys would-be president, Jefferson Davis.
But the failure to recognize the role of slavery at all has left several others aghast. Lonnie Randolph, the president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP told the New York Times that promoting the Confederacys idea of states rights really refers to their idea of one right to buy and sell human beings.
Can you celebrate secession without celebrating slavery? | Need to Know
"I am a veteran," Meeks said. "I respect all veterans - even those in the Civil War that fought on the wrong side of slavery.
"I don't agree with what the South had them fighting for. But this is America. I am an American. They have the freedom of speech. Freedom of expression."
Melvin Poole, another veteran who happens to be president of the Rock Hill branch of the NAACP, will be in Charleston marching against the ball that will celebrate those who fought to preserve slavery.
This in a state where the Confederate flag still flies in front of the Statehouse, reminding every black and white person of this state's slave past - and its inability to put that past behind it.
"What this group is doing is offensive," Poole said. "They can do it. That doesn't mean they should do it."
YORK COUNTY | Black veterans: We fought for right to celebrate secession - wrong or right | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
State NAACP leaders held two press conferences Friday, spreading the word they will protest the ball and any other sesquicentennial events that they deem disrespectful.
We are not opposed to observances, said Lonnie Randolph, state president of the NAACP. We are opposed to disrespect.
South Carolina Celebrates Secession | FrumForum
Can you celebrate secession without celebrating slavery? That question seems to be the core tension surrounding the upcoming celebrations of the American Civil Wars 150-year anniversary. The New York Times recently reported on a series of events over the next four years that commemorate the sesquicentennial, including a Secession Ball, a candlelight memorial at Antietam, a parade in Montgomery, Alabama, and a mock swearing-in of the Confederacys would-be president, Jefferson Davis.
But the failure to recognize the role of slavery at all has left several others aghast. Lonnie Randolph, the president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP told the New York Times that promoting the Confederacys idea of states rights really refers to their idea of one right to buy and sell human beings.
Can you celebrate secession without celebrating slavery? | Need to Know
"I am a veteran," Meeks said. "I respect all veterans - even those in the Civil War that fought on the wrong side of slavery.
"I don't agree with what the South had them fighting for. But this is America. I am an American. They have the freedom of speech. Freedom of expression."
Melvin Poole, another veteran who happens to be president of the Rock Hill branch of the NAACP, will be in Charleston marching against the ball that will celebrate those who fought to preserve slavery.
This in a state where the Confederate flag still flies in front of the Statehouse, reminding every black and white person of this state's slave past - and its inability to put that past behind it.
"What this group is doing is offensive," Poole said. "They can do it. That doesn't mean they should do it."
YORK COUNTY | Black veterans: We fought for right to celebrate secession - wrong or right | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC