You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter, a 77-year-old veteran, was asked to be the keynote speaker at a Memorial Day ceremony this week. The ceremony was hosted by the Hudson American Legion Lee-Bishop Post 464, Monday, in the city of Hudson, Ohio.
This particular veteran knew the true history of the holiday he was speaking about, and the role Black Americans played in it. He was sharing it when he was cut off mid-speech.
A ceremony organizer turned off the microphone when the event's keynote speaker, retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter,* began sharing a story about freed Black slaves honoring deceased soldiers shortly after the end of the Civil War.
Cindy Suchan, who chairs the Memorial Day parade committee and is president of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, said it was either her or Jim Garrison, adjutant of American Legion Lee-Bishop Post 464, who turned down the audio. When pressed, she would not say who specifically did it.
Suchan said organizers wanted this part excluded because it “was not relevant to our program for the day," and added the “theme of the day was honoring Hudson veterans.”
Kemter said he wanted to use his speech to share the history of the origin of Memorial Day. Afterward, he noted, he received "numerous compliments" from attendees who told him “it was nice to hear the history.”
www.beaconjournal.com/… (*you can see the speech by clicking on the highlighted name above.)
The word got out, anyway, and perhaps now even more people will hear about how "The ceremony is believed to have included a parade of as many as 10,000 people, including 3,000 African American schoolchildren singing the Union marching song, 'John Brown's Body,'" Kemter said in his speech. "They were carrying armfuls of flowers and went to decorate at the graves." people.com/…
The American Legion of Ohio has since asked that the two Post Officers responsible for the mic muting resign. Yeah. That seems fair.
Not that it matters, but the keynote speaker, Retired Lt. Col. Kemter, who caused all this fuss, is white. Sisters and brothers, we must all fight to tell the true history of this nation! Cheers to this man. And double cheers to those 3,000 African American schoolchildren who made up 30% of the first Memorial Day parade!
Friday, Jun 4, 2021 · 7:39:53 PM +00:00 · rflctammt
Thank you to Charles Jay who just added this comment:
And finally this is for those who asked about the response of the American Legion’s national organization.
The American Legion National Commander James W. “Bill” Oxford issued the following statement on Thursday:
“The Ohio American Legion assures us that they are fully investigating this incident. Regardless of the investigation’s outcome, the national headquarters is very clear that The American Legion deplores racism and reveres the Constitution. We salute LTC Kemter’s service and his moving remarks about the history of Memorial Day and the important role played by Black Americans in honoring our fallen heroes. We regret any actions taken that detracts from this important message.”
VICTORY DECLARED BY DIARY AUTHOR!
At this time, I’d like to post a comment from Audri, the most recent commenter on this diary thread :
By trying to silence his history lesson, they got it in front of more people.
Ha!
This is how we must deal with the right’s attempts to white wash history or silence truth.
Let them make it a teachable moment. A moment of consequence. We can use the truth against to beat them, because truth stands up in court, it stands the test of time. Those racists lost their post. Everyone, officially anyway, stepped up to say this was not okay. (Just be sure the video is running.)
We can win this.