NAACP Struggling to Find Reasons to be Outraged

You can only assume that the NAACP is running out of reasons to be outraged when they decided to complain about this:

While the city says the photo on the front of Naperville's official 175th anniversary event guide is depicting unity, some residents see it as a symbol of centuries of hatred.

On the front cover of the guide is a collage of eight photos encircling one of a birthday cake. Among those featured is one of a little girl at Naper Settlement's Civil War Days. The girl is holding an American flag — and wearing a hat with a Confederate flag.

"It's kind of subtle, but there it is," said Naperville resident Sherid Smith. "At first you think, 'Oh, a cute little girl.' When you really look at it — cute little girl with a Confederate hat on."

Upon seeing the brochure, Smith called Mayor George Pradel's office and was referred to community relations. She then spoke with Gary Karafiat, community relations manager for the city.

Karafiat said a five-person editing team reviewed the text and photos in the guide. With the theme of unity, the committee wanted to depict on the cover large community scenes and activity. The photo of the little girl illustrates the unity between the North and the South, he said.

[...]

Smith said she would like to see the guide reprinted — with a letter inside the brochure explaining the reason why — and mailed out again. She would also like an apology.
Karafiat said at this point, the city will stick with the current event guide. The cost to print and mail the guide came to about $34,000, he said.

"Our budget couldn't absorb reprinting or remailing," he said.

[...]

After talking with Karafiat, Smith called her pastor. In the last few days she has spoken to multiple friends and at least two past presidents of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Aurora resident Marvin Byrd, who is past president of the DuPage County branch of the NAACP, said residents who were offended by the photo called him and asked what they should do. He recommended going public with their thoughts.

"They were quite upset about it, and for good cause," he said. "During the Confederacy, our people were considered subhuman."

He said any picture that reflects that sort of image is an insult.

A little girl holding two flags representing both sides in the Civil War - at a Civil War Days Celebration- is racist? C'mon, NAACP and aggrieved party Smith - you folks can do better than that.