Obama criticized for honoring Confederate soldiers
Cleve Bryan
Published: May 29, 2009Earlier this week President Obama may have tried to step over a political mess by sending Memorial Day wreaths to monuments for Confederate soldiers as well as to African American soldiers from the Civil War, but conflict may have been unavoidable.
Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP gave sharp criticism to President Obama in a published report on Friday. He told a reporter that paying tribute to Confederate soldiers is as wrong as honoring Adolph Hitler. He also said he planned to send out a letter denouncing the President’s actions.
While some Charleston locals like Ronald Green say the Confederacy still has connections to racism, he thinks President Obama is doing a good job working on race relations, “He doesn’t favor the blacks or the whites, he goes down the middle.“
Randall Burbage, commander of the state division of the Sons of the Confederacy says Lonnie Randolph is causing racial problems. “His words are full of venom, hate and historical inaccuracies,“ says Burbage.
He points to the fact Presidents since Woodrow Wilson have all sent wreaths to the Confederate Monument and supports Obama’s actions.
“I think that was a good statement saying that he’s reaching out to all of us and not representing one particular group of people,“ says Burbage.
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