A highly regarded Virginia Democrat is raising eyebrows after it was discovered that he often dresses up as a Confederate soldier to reenact the Civil War with his history-loving buddies.
John Douglass, who is favored in one of the state’s hotly contested congressional races, has dressed up as both Union and Confederate soldiers over the years, according to reports.
Leaders in the NAACP have described Douglass' Civil War reenactments as "disturbing," according to the Huffington Post:
Don Gaines, a local chapter president for the NAACP in Fluvanna, Va., which is in the 5th District, said he finds Douglass' reenactment involvement "very surprising and somewhat disturbing."
"I understand that it is a part of history," he said, "but I guess with the makeup of the 5th District as it is right now, you would probably want to be more sensitive to things such as that, and to be hosting (meetings) on your farm ... Wow, that's very, very surprising ... wow, I'm really taken aback by that."
Douglass declined to be interviewed for this story, but he did speak with several of HuffPost's sources after they commented on it. Several of those sources, black residents and leaders in the district who initially criticized Douglass' involvement in the reenactments, backed off their positions after speaking with him or his campaign representatives.