South Carolina NAACP to Protest Secession Ball Over "Disrespect" & Showing Segments of "Birth of a Nation"

South Carolina NAACP to stage protest of upcoming secession ball and showing of segments of controversial film "Birth of a Nation" that glorified the Ku Klux Klan and denigrated blacks.

Something is about to pop off in South Carolina. According to The State, members of the SC NAACP will march on Friday in protest of a “secession ball” in Charleston later this month which will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the state's secession from the Union. They deem such commemoration to be in poor taste -- "disrespectful" It doesn't help that the South Carolina Sons of Confederate Veterans is a co-sponsor of the ball. You will recall the group has been instrumental in the observance of Confederate Month in Virginia.

“We are not opposed to observances,” said Lonnie Randolph, state president of the NAACP. “We are opposed to disrespect.” NAACP members and supporters plan to hold a peaceful march in downtown Charleston the day of the ball, on Dec. 20, followed by a meeting and question-and-answer session focusing on slavery. Participants will watch segments of “Birth of a Nation,” a 1915 silent film that portrayed Ku Klux Klan members as heroes.

Nearby at Charleston’s Gaillard Municipal Auditorium, ball attendees, who will pay $100 a ticket, will don formal, period dress, eat and dance the Virginia Reel as a band plays “Dixie.” The evening’s highlight will be a play reenacting the signing of South Carolina’s Ordinance of Secession 150 years ago, which severed the state’s ties with the Union and paved the way for the Civil War.“This is nothing more than a celebration of slavery,” Randolph said of the event. Source: The State

I just can't get too upset about the commemoration of the Civil War but I have to ask what context the movie "Birth of a Nation" will be showed? As you will recall, that movie glorified the KKK and did not portray blacks in a positive light. Still, we can't ignore the fact that slavery was a part of the Confederacy and it should not be swept under a rug, but why do some people get so thin-skinned about this topic? I grew up in Jamaica, where slavery reigned supreme for decades, until the slaves freed themselves. Maybe I just don't get it, but I believe there are far more pressing issues to worry about than some shindig to commemorate the Civil War.