The Historic Latta Plantation in Huntersville, N.C., recently advertised a Juneteenth event that aimed to tell the stories of โwhite refugees,โ Confederate soldiers who were sad about losing the Civil War and freed slaves living โhigh on the hogโโall from the perspective of an unemployed slave master.
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Then, after people swiftly informed the history museum that this was both brazenly racist and a very stupid idea, the event description was deleted Friday.
But the internet doesnโt forget, and neither does the Raleigh News & Observer.
The Observer reports:
โOn its website and on social media, the living history museum promoted the $25 ticketed event, called โKingdom Coming,โ which was set to take place starting at 7 p.m. next Saturday, on Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the United States. The event has since been cancelled.โ
โ... The eventโs description, which didnโt acknowledge the significance of June 19, started with lines from a mournful slave spiritual some scholars say is aligned with the Underground Railroad: โSwing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.โโ
โThe event billing is sympathetic to those who owned slaves in the aftermath of emancipation, and inaccurately minimizes an unnamed slaveowner to an โoverseer,โ referring to him as โmassa.โ The post on Latta Plantationโs site also refers to โfreedmenโ but inexplicably omits that Black people were enslaved in the United States for nearly 250 years. Instead, the museumโs site refers to slaves as โformer bondsmen.โ
What kind of Django Unchained, Rachael Kirkconnell, alternative facts white nonsense is this? I feel like we really shouldnโt be surprised that an actual plantation that has been transformed into a โliving history museumโ is out here intending to commit racist actsโon Juneteenth of all daysโbut yet, here we are.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles commented about the situation on Twitter.
โWe should not support any business or organization that does not respect equality, history, and the truth of the African-American peopleโs journey to freedom,โ she said. โDespite intent, words matter. And the Historic Latta Plantation should know better.โ
WCNC Charlotte reports that Mecklenburg County also denounced the ill-conceived event, saying that county parks and recreation officials didnโt know about the event until it appeared on social media. The county said it is now looking at its contract with the plantation regarding future programming.
The town of Huntersville co-signed Mecklenburg Countyโs zero-tolerance stance on programs that donโt โembrace equity and diversity.โ The town announced Friday that it will hold its annual financial contributions to the plantation until investigations โinto the facts surrounding this eventโ are done.
Neither the Latta Plantation nor the event organizer have issued statements about the debacle as of Saturday morning.
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