A racially charged Fourth of July parade float has created a stir in a small North Carolina community.
Several parade-goers in Hope Mills, N.C. have complained to city officials about a float that was adorned with a Confederate flag and signs that read, “White History Month. Hug WTE PPL.” The float consisted of a John Deere tractor that pulled a wagon filled with watermelons.
A local farmer named Donnie Spell was behind the float, according to local media reports. Officials in Hope Mills told television station WTVD that Spell had notified them that the wagon would display signs reading, “Watermelons for sale.”
Kenny Bullock, director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Hope Mills, told the Fayetteville Observer that he had asked a member of the Spell family to remove the offensive signs prior to the start of the parade. It wasn’t until the float was midway through the parade route that Bullock learned that the signs remained, after several spectators called his cell phone to cry foul.
Below, a news report on the float from television station WNCN:
WNCN: News, Weather for Raleigh. Durham, Fayetteville
