"The event was canceled due to security concerns for volunteers and staff. The media’s corps of yellow journalist had a perfect opportunity to educate, however, they chose to whip the public into a frenzy, it worked," the plantation said.
A North Carolina plantation in Huntersville has canceled plans at the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve showing slave owners as “white refugees” in a reenactment of a white slave owner being pursued by Union soldiers, ABC 13 reported.
The event titled “Kingdom Coming” was supposed to happen on June 19, which is Juneteenth, the day commemorating the emancipation of slaves in America.
Officials in Mecklenburg County took to Twitter last Friday to announce that the event at the plantation was canceled.
"We immediately reached out to the organizers and the event was canceled," Mecklenburg County said on Twitter.
The county also said in the tweet that it had a "zero tolerance for programs that do not embrace equity and diversity.”
The event was going to include Confederate soldiers showcasing their grief that the Confederacy was falling apart and would also depict slave owners as "white refugees" after slaves were free, ABC 13 reported.
In a lengthy statement released after the cancelation of the event, Ian Campbell, site manager of Historic Latta Plantation, who is of African descent, said they are not apologizing for the event.
“The program 'Kingdom Coming' was created by myself, with the help of others. I, Ian Campbell, Site Manager of Historic Latta Plantation take full responsibility for its content entirely!,” the statement read. “To the masses on social media and politicians, no apology will be given for bringing a unique program to educate the public about former slaves becoming FREE!”
The statement continued and said that “The Confederacy will never be glorified, white supremacy will never be glorified, plantation owners, white refugees or overseers will never be glorified.”
“What will be commemorated is the story of our people who overcame being snatched from their loved ones in Mother Africa and taken to a new and strange land. To work from can see to can’t see from birth to death. The fact that they survived and we are here and continue to thrive and prosper will be glorified,” it continued.
The Latta Plantation was built in 1800 and its remains are now used as a living history exhibit and museum dedicated to exhibiting the facets of daily life in the antebellum south, especially in North Carolina. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
On Tuesday, Mecklenburg County announced it is not renewing its contract with the nonprofit that manages Historic Latta Plantation, the Charlotte Observer reported.
