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Officials Resign Amid Backlash After Veteran's Mic Was Cut For Talking About Race In Memorial Day Speech
Retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter's speech on Memorial Day was censored when his microphone was cut by organizers. The veteran dared bring up the subject of Black people's role in the creation of Memorial Day.
In response, a number of officials representing the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, a branch of the American Legion of Ohio, resigned after backlash over cutting the microphone for 2 minutes of Kemter's 11-minute speech.
The organization VoteVets restored the censored part of Kemter's speech and shared it online.
We sound corrected the part of Lt. Col. (Ret.) Barnard Kemter\u2019s speech that was muted when his mic was cut off this past Memorial Day in Hudson, Ohio. He spoke of freed slaves being among the first to honor the fallen after the Civil War. Please take a moment to listen.pic.twitter.com/gjidUZF6ci— VoteVets (@VoteVets) 1622731560
And now you know the rest of the story. It\u2019s not CRT it\u2019s just HISTORYhttps://twitter.com/votevets/status/1400463784880197648\u00a0\u2026— James Green (@James Green) 1623166195
I really admire this retired military officer wanting to tell the story of the origins of Memorial Day and give Kudos & recognition to the Black American slaves that initiated it.\nhttps://twitter.com/votevets/status/1400463784880197648\u00a0\u2026— Christine Mitchell (@Christine Mitchell) 1622900029
I can't believe they muted out the part where he mentioned Black ppl started #MemorialDay !!!!#kemter #ohiohttps://twitter.com/votevets/status/1400463784880197648\u00a0\u2026— Pandora's Pithos (@Pandora's Pithos) 1622879483
Cindy Suchan, the President of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, officially resigned, according to the American Legion of Ohio.
In her initial response to the incident, Suchan said either she or another official had been the one to lower the audio because it "was not relevant to our program for the day....the theme of the day was honoring Hudson veterans."
Kemter himself was very dismayed by this choice.
"I find it interesting that [the American Legion]…would take it upon themselves to censor my speech and deny me my First Amendment right to [freedom of] speech...This is not the same country I fought for."
\u201cKemter said he was emailed by an event organizer (whom he declined to name) asking him to remove a part of his speech dealing with Black Americans\u2019 role in an early Memorial Day-type of ceremony.\u201dhttps://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2021/06/02/veterans-audio-cut-when-he-discusses-blacks-role-memorial-day-speech-hudson-ohio/7508217002/\u00a0\u2026— Ida Bae Wells (@Ida Bae Wells) 1622668915
Veteran asked to remove part of his Memorial Day speech about Black Americans, then \u201caudio malfunction\u201d during that part of his speech. Hiding our dirty laundry is NOT helping. We can do better. #whitewashinghttps://twitter.com/nhannahjones/status/1400201034971193350\u00a0\u2026— Kirby L. Wycoff, Psy.D., Ed.M., MPH., NCSP (@Kirby L. Wycoff, Psy.D., Ed.M., MPH., NCSP) 1622809631
The fragility of white supremacists at work. They can\u2019t even hear of the black contributions to this county without being triggered.\n\nThis county has been a safe space for white supremacists fir WAY too long.https://twitter.com/nhannahjones/status/1400201034971193350\u00a0\u2026— Kristine Ross (@Kristine Ross) 1622747646
A year after George Floyd was murdered, look how far we've come on talking about race....oh wait....https://twitter.com/nhannahjones/status/1400201034971193350\u00a0\u2026— Heidi MacDonald (@Heidi MacDonald) 1622736895
And the WHITE SUPREMACISTS get more and more desperate. #CancelWhiteSupremacyhttps://twitter.com/nhannahjones/status/1400201034971193350\u00a0\u2026— Jan L.R.\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2 (@Jan L.R.\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2) 1622734974
Jim Garrison, the other person Suchan alluded to who "may have" turned down the audio, resigned from his position as adjutant of Hudson American Legion Lee-Bishop Post 464 as well, following an investigation by the American Legion Department of Ohio officials.
The investigation found the cutting of Kemter's mic was "pre-meditated and planned by … Garrison and … Suchan." The department also suspended Hudson's charter "pending permanent closure."
This is Cindy Suchan, the President of the Hudson American Legion Auxillary, that asked the Lt Col. NOT to modify his speech about the history of the slaves that helped the Union by saying it was "Not relevant" to the event.pic.twitter.com/iA9poPgecB— Jaxson Reid (@Jaxson Reid) 1622735418
Cindy Suchan is NOT a veteran. But she IS a member of DAR. Explains everything.https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.beaconjournal.com/news/20190920/hudson-honors-martha-marsh-for-service-in-american-legion-more%3ftemplate=ampart\u00a0\u2026— TashaCNS (@TashaCNS) 1622671970
This is one of Cindy Suchan's children:pic.twitter.com/PyF7CJQ8KL— In The Loop Radio (@In The Loop Radio) 1622741961
Let's also not let @hudsonohschools off the hook. Cindy Suchan works for them per her Facebook page and they've had...issues...regarding diversity in the past.\nClearly they have a white supremacy problem.— Dan (@Dan) 1622727803
Neither Suchan nor Garrison commented on their resignations.