You ever see or read something so head-ass that the only thing you can say in response is “nigga?” That was me when learning that a plantation-turned-museum in North Carolina had plans to ring in Juneteenth with an event that would’ve featured a reenactment of a white slave owner being chased by Union soldiers.
Nigga.
Over the weekend, The Root reported about the racist-ass Juneteenth celebration planned by the Historic Latta Plantation Nature Preserve, and according to the Associated Press, Mecklenburg County has decided to let its contract with the museum expire next month. This is notable as the county had been working with the museum since the 1970s. The county said it has “zero tolerance” for events that don’t reflect the values of diversity and equity. County officials tweeted last Friday that the event was canceled after they reached out to the museum.
In addition to the game of catch the slave owner, the website for the museum also advertised that event goers could be regaled by the tales of a “massa,” and listen to Confederate soldiers lament the fall of the Confederacy. Essentially, they were going to charge people for something they could’ve just read in any pro-Trump Facebook group.
The manager of the museum, a Black man by the name of Ian Campbell, has defended the event according to WCCB, saying that he would never glorify white supremacy. To that I can only say: nigga.
You can say something isn’t racist, that doesn’t mean it’s not racist. It’s a whole other level of caucasity to straight up hold one at a historical museum on a day meant to celebrate Black people being lifted from the shackles of bondage. If that ain’t saying the quiet part with your chest, I truly don’t know what is.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles condemned the event on Friday, tweeting: “We should not support any business or organization that does not respect equality, history, and the truth of the African-American people’s journey to freedom. Despite intent, words matter.”
Imagine losing a consistent, nearly 50-year-old bag because you couldn’t help but show your racist ass? Couldn’t be me, y’all.
DISCUSSION
The part about Union soldiers playing pin-the-tail-on-the-slave-owner seems okay to me. I mean, it’s far from the classiest imaginable Juneteenth event, but it’s at least vaguely related.