Juneteenth event cancelled after furious backlash over calling slaveowners 'white refugees': report

Outrage in North Carolina resulted in the cancelation of an event scheduled for June 19th — the same day as the Juneteenth holiday commemorating the emancipation of slaves.

"A racist event description,promising to tell the story of 'white refugees' and defeated Confederate soldiers, was abruptly removed Friday by the Historic Latta Plantation after backlash," the Charlottesvillle Observer reports. "The event billing is sympathetic to those who owned slaves in the aftermath of emancipation, and inaccurately minimizes an unnamed slaveowner to an 'overseer,' referring to him as 'massa.' The post on Latta Plantation's site also refers to 'freedmen' but inexplicably omits that Black people were enslaved in the United States for nearly 250 years. Instead, the museum's site refers to slaves as 'former bondsmen.'"

Mecklenburg County said they are reviewing their contract with the site vendor following the scandal.

"Mecklenburg County has zero tolerance for programs that do not embrace equity and diversity. Park and Recreation was not aware of the planned event at Latta Nature Preserve until it appeared on social media," the county said in a statement. "We immediately reached out to the organizers and the event was canceled. As a result of this incident, Mecklenburg County is looking at its contract with the facility vendor regarding future programming."

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles also released a statement.

"We should not support any business or organization that does not respect equality, history, and the truth of the African-American people's journey to freedom. Despite intent, words matter. And the Historic Latta Plantation should know better," Lyles wrote.

Watch WCNC coverage of the scandal: