A North Carolina county commissioner referred to slaves as “workers” during a discussion on removing a Confederate statue.
The Times-News of Burlington reports Alamance County Commissioner Tim Sutton made the comments during an unscheduled discussion on Monday regarding a Confederate statue in downtown Graham, the county seat. A group appeared before the board of commissioners to ask them to consider keeping the statue.
Sutton, who admitted he’s a chartered member of the Sons of the Confederacy, told the meeting “I am not going to be a victim of political correctness.” He was talking about his great-grandfather’s death when he said, “some guys on the farm, you can call them slaves if you want to, but I would just call them workers, that they raised a good bit of my family.”
In any other state he would be writing his resignation letter before he finished that sentence. Keep it classy North Carolina.
He should apologize for this statement and consider resigning his post. A worker enters an agreement with someone to earn money or something for their labor whereas a slave is a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them. His statement was insensitive and offensive.