Wake Forest University just announced it will be hosting a “panel discussion” September 2nd on the Confederate flag. Judging by the lineup, it will be more like a one-sided MSNBC panel than an actual discussion.
That’s not surprising, since MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry will “facilitate the conversation.”
In a media advisory, the university’s Pro Humanitate Institute announces it will feature four individuals, including an expert pole climber:
- Katon Dawson – Dawson was first elected Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party in 2002, was unanimously re-elected twice, and served on the Republican National Committee from 2002-2009. He was a leading voice in removing the flag from the South Carolina state capitol.
- Alicia Garza – An organizer, writer, and freedom dreamer, Garza is Special Projects Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the nation’s leading voice for dignity and fairness for the millions of domestic workers in the United States. She is also the co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter.
- Bree Newsome – A filmmaker, singer, songwriter and community organizer, Newsome made headlines when she climbed a flagpole and removed the Confederate flag flying at the state capitol in Columbia, S.C.
- James Ian Tyson – Tyson is a grassroots organizer who was arrested alongside Bree Newsome after they removed the flag from the South Carolina state capitol grounds.
“An academic environment is the ideal place for a thoughtful and thought-provoking conversation about the intersection of race, symbolism and the South,” Harris-Perry says, according to the news release. “The unique and timely perspectives of each panelist will challenge, motivate and inspire those seeking social justice on our campus and in our community.”
The university says its chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity, the Division of Campus Life and Office of Diversity and Inclusion are co-sponsoring the event, with support from “the Diversity Collaboration Fund.”
“Diversity and inclusion” apparently doesn’t include supporters of the Confederate flag.
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