Alabama NAACP criticizes use of Trail Maids in Inaugural Parade
Tuesday, January 13, 2009Quick! What does a powerful ethnic lobby do when it carries around more political heft than brains? If you’re the NAACP, you try to detect racism everywhere — even in the dresses young ladies plan to wear at Obama’s inaugural parade:
The head of the Alabama NAACP, however, wants Mobile’s Azalea Trail Maids to stay home on Inauguration Day, claiming the group reminds him of slavery.
"These are not just regular costumes. These are the costumes that remind someone of the plantation in Gone with the Wind," Edward Vaughn said in a phone interview.
Vaughn went on to say the group would be the laughing stock of the Inauguration. County leaders say nothing could be further from the truth.
"We want everyone to know that these young ladies do not need to be identified with slavery," said Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine.
"I don’t see what the dresses have to do with racism. I don’t see it. It’s just a regular dress to me. Just a dress they wore back in the day," said Carolyn Tius of Montgomery.
I wonder what if feels like to be this ludicrously paranoid? I hope I never find out.
On The Web: http://www.dixienet.org/rebellion/2009/01/alabama-naacp-criticizes-use-of-trail.html