Dot Scott, president of the Charleston, S.C., branch of the NAACP, holds signs during a protest against a “Secession Ball,” commemorating South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America, Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, outside the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston. (AP Photo/Stacy L. Pearsall)
Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina branch of the NAACP, addresses a crowd gathered to protest against a “Secession Ball,” commemorating South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America, Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, in Charleston. (AP Photo/Stacy L. Pearsall)
A crowd joins members of the Charleston, S.C., branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a march of protest against a “Secession Ball,” commemorating South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America, Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, in Charleston. Organizers of the ball said the $100-a-person private event held at the Galliard Auditorium was a fundraiser to honor the Southern men who were willing to sacrifice their lives for their homes and their vision of states’ rights. (AP Photo/Stacy L. Pearsall)
A crowd joins members of the Charleston, S.C., branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a march of protest against a “Secession Ball,” commemorating South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America, Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, in Charleston. (AP Photo/Stacy L. Pearsall)
A man holds a sign as members of the Charleston, S.C., branch of the NAACP for a march of protest against a “Secession Ball,” commemorating South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America, Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, in Charleston. (AP Photo/Stacy L. Pearsall)
Dressed in period clothing, Lynn Charles, right, helps direct guests of the Ordinance of Secession Gala find their seats at the Gaillard Auditorium in Charleston, S.C., on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010. The event commemorates South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America. (AP Photo/Stacy L. Pearsall)
Michael Givens, commander and chief of The Sons of the Confederate Veterans, stands outside the door to the Ordinance of Secession Gala in Charleston, S.C., on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010. The event commemorates South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America. (AP Photo/Stacy L. Pearsall)
In a Dec. 7, 2010 photo, Eric Emerson, the director of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, stands with the Ordinance of Secession signed in Charleston on Dec. 20, 1860. With the ordinance, South Carolina became the first state to leave the Union before the Civil War.(AP Photo/Bruce Smith)
A Dec. 7, 2010 photo shows detail from the Ordinance of Secession signed in Charleston, S.C. on Dec. 20, 1860. With the ordinance, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union before the Civil War.(AP Photo/Bruce Smith)
A crowd joins members of the Charleston, S.C., branch of the NAACP for a march of protest against a “Secession Ball,” commemorating South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America, Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, in Charleston. (AP Photo/Andy Dunaway)
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) — The memory of the Civil War collided with modern-day civil rights Monday as protesters targeted a “Secession Ball,” commemorating the state of South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America.
As blacks and whites gathered in the twilight with electric candles and signs for a protest by the NAACP, a predominantly white group of men in old-fashioned tuxedos and women in long-flowing dresses and gloves stopped to watch and take pictures before going into the Charleston auditorium where the ball was taking place.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
