Confederate flag waving teens issue apology
theGrio REPORT - The problems began when East Chapel Hill High School students made a school trip to the Gettysburg National Battlefield, and after the trip was over, photos began to circulate of two girls with Confederate flags.
The problems began when East Chapel Hill High School students made a school trip to the Gettysburg National Battlefield, and after the trip was over, photos began to circulate of two girls with Confederate flags.
The caption for the photo read, “South will rise,” and underneath, another student commented, “Already bought my first slave.”
While Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ superintendent Thomas A. Forcella has not commented on any disciplinary action, he stated, “Students are guaranteed the same rights as all citizens. Having said that, we agree that there is still much work to do. The implications, and sometimes unintended consequences, that arise on social networking sites need a more deliberate approach. Implicit bias does exist in all of us, regardless of our race.”
The father of one of the girls, Ron Creatore, defended his daughter, saying,
She didn’t at the time post it with any intention it was going to be perceived as racist… They want to use this photograph and my daughter’s involvement in this photograph as a vessel to promote a particular agenda. I won’t stand for my daughter being suspended because I don’t believe she’s done anything wrong. I want the person who has a 17-year-old who has never had never make a mistake to be the one to judge her.”
His daughter then stepped into the fray, attempting to explain the picture:
I’m sorry that my picture offended people and especially since my initial caption (that I changed once I realized people took it seriously), but I’m currently on the Civil War trip learning about the history of our country and this just so happens to be a pretty (expletive) important part of it. We were reenacting Pickett’s charge in which the South lost 85% of their soldiers. These aren’t the Confederate flags in fact, they’re the North Carolina regimental flags. I’m proud to be a part of my state and I’m sorry my photo was so offensive but I find it appropriate in that I’m honoring heroes that fought to protect their home and families. Thanks though.
Chapel Hill native Michelle Laws believes this doesn’t stop at an isolated Instagram picture, “But is simply one of many patterns that we are seeing across the state.”
Wanda Hunter, who said she spoke on behalf of white members of the community, said she also was “deeply disappointed with the behavior of these, our white students.”
“The deeper disappointment is we know these girls are not a few bad apples, but they are representative of what the dominant white culture teaches,” Hunter admitted.
Grio fam, do you think the girls (and their parents) really understand what they did wrong?
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