National Federation of Republican Women held its annual meeting at the Country Club of Charleston this past weekend, calling the event “A Southern Experience.” FITS news reported participants dressed in clothing from the Civil War and antebellum South era. The state’s Senate President Glenn McConnell eagerly dressed for the event as a Confederate Navy captain’s uniform. McConnell was pictured with two African-Americans in a photograph that many have observed “callously evokes the state’s slave-holding past”:
The State reports today that McConnell has no plans to apologize:
McConnell says a picture circulating on the Internet of him dressed in a Civil War-era military uniform alongside two African-Americans outfitted in period costumes was an innocent moment among friends — nothing more. [...]
“It was a friendly photograph,” McConnell said Wednesday. “It’s a great statement as to how far this state has come.”
“Receive it in the spirit it was presented that evening,” McConnell urged, adding there were no apologies to be made for the effort.
Regardless of McConnell’s intent, he appears to be overlooking the emotional response the photo has conjured. “That’s the senator’s unfortunate world view,” said Rev. Joe Darby, first vice president of the state NAACP. Darby told the State that the African-Americans in the photo are in a seemingly subservient role. “Our history is still an open wound in lots of cases,” local museum director J.R. Fennel said, “for blacks and whites who don’t want to deal with it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment