Texas town removes fence between white, Black cemeteries
(AP) Another lingering relic of the Jim Crow era was being ripped from the ground this week in a small East Texas town. Municipal crews were digging up a fence between two adjacent but separate historically Black and historically white cemeteries in Mineola, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Dallas. The improved access to the Black cemetery satisfied all parties, Boyd said. Cedars was formally known as the City of Mineola Cemetery, while the historically Black cemetery is called City Cemetery. That created the mistaken impression among the public that the cemeteries were city-owned and the segregation reflected badly on Mineola, Boyd said.
Disney changing Splash Mountain, ride tied to Jim Crow film
ORLANDO, Fla. Amid calls to change the Splash Mountain theme park ride because of its ties with Song of the South, the 1946 movie many view as racist, Disney officials said Thursday it was recasting the ride to make it based on The Princess and the Frog, the 2009 Disney film with an African American female lead. The changes to the ride will be made at Disneyland in California and the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, the company said in a post. The new concept is inclusive one that all of our guests can connect with and be inspired by, and it speaks to the diversity of the millions of people who visit our parks each year, the Disney post said. We're thrilled to share Splash Mountain at @Disneyland & @WaltDisneyWorld will be completely reimagined with a new story inspired by an all-time favorite @DisneyAnimation film, The Princess and the Frog. Learn about what Imagineers have in development: https://t.co/HyKfdDSH3j pic.twitter.com/DV6476KAVX Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) June 25, 2020The ride first opened at Disneyland in the late 1980s. With racist stereotypes and Old South tropes, Song of the South is a mix of live action, cartoons and music featuring an old black plantation laborer named Uncle Remus who enchants a white city boy with fables of talking animals.