YORK COUNTY, S.C. -- A family rafting on the Catawba River came across a shocking scenery over the weekend.
A Charlotte family was on track to celebrate a fun and happy birthday celebration.
"We had chips, we had drinks," said Parron Baxter. "We had a Beats Pill, so we had a bunch of fun stuff ready to go for this trip."
It was Baxter's first time rafting on the Catawba River, who was out with his wife and friends over the weekend.
"It was a great idea," he said.
But by the time they made it through the first bend, their trip wound up with a dark undertow.
"We see this sign," Baxter said. "This Confederate flag with three words and two-thirds of the sentence I can't repeat because they are racial slurs."
A message of hate written loud and clear.
"It was very embarrassing," he said. "The first 10 minutes after, it was just complete silence. It was very somber, very silencing."
Baxter said there were children playing on the rock, oblivious of the message.
"These children are innocent and they don't need to be associating fun with this hatred," he said.
And with hundreds of people rafting the river at the same time, someone had to point it out.
"This is not the Carolinas that I know," he said.
But Baxter said this is a wakeup call for what's going on in our country.
"This reminded us the day I'm supposed to be reminded I'm love, I'm reminded I'm hated," he said.
Baxter said he is grateful to the woman who had the courage to speak up and denounce what they all saw. Now, planning a hashtag #ReclaimTheRock on Twitter.
Baxter said he was looking to partner with NAACP and other groups in the community to repaint the rock and turn a negative experience into a positive.
On Wednesday, NBC Charlotte received a picture of the repainted rock from Baxter. A local artist is said to have done the work.
