Ban Confederate flags at the Vermont State fair, Rutland civil rights group demands

Jess Aloe | Burlington Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Delaware State fairgoers sound off on the sale Confederate Flag Fairgoers at the Delaware State Fair share their thoughts on the sale of memorabilia with the Confederate flag at the fair.

The Rutland chapter of the NAACP is demanding the Vermont State Fair ban the sale and display of Confederate battle flags.

The civil rights group is circulating a petition on the website Change.org asking the fair's organizers to keep a divisive symbol out of an event billed as fun and family-friendly.

"This has been an issue for many years," said Tabitha Pohl-Moore, president of the Rutland chapter. She said the fair organizers, Rutland County Agricultural Society, have dismissed her concerns and the concerns of other fair-goers and refused to engage in conversations about vendors at the fair selling flag merchandise.

Luey Clough, president of the Rutland County Agricultural Society, had not returned a request for comment as of Thursday morning.

A lawyer representing the fair told the Rutland Herald earlier this week that a vendor wishing to sell Confederate merchandise would spark a discussion about how to handle the situation by the board of trustees

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The flag, Pohl-Moore said, represents hate and violates the spirit of the fair.

"It’s not just history anymore, it’s present," she said, pointing to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. This week marks the first anniversary of the high-profile white supremacist rally in Virginia. "It’s not something that's meant to make you feel good."

Over 1,500 people had signed the online petition as of Friday morning.

"This symbol, like the Swastika, has no place in society, let alone in a family-oriented venue such as the Vermont State Fair as it represents a horrific past for many and a heritage of hatred for others," the petition states.

The Addison County Fair and Field Days banned sales of Confederate flag merchandise in 2016 after a petition on Change.org garnered over 400 signatures.

The Confederate merchandise had been primarily sold by one vendor, according to the petition. The Middlebury chapter of the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society organized the Addison County initiative.

The Vermont State Fair, now in its 173 year, opened on Tuesday and runs through Saturday.

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Displays of the Confederate flag have roiled up communities across the nation and in Vermont in recent years, after the racially-motivated killing of nine African-Americans inside a South Carolina church in 2015.

In South Burlington, tensions erupted over a student-led initiative to change the Rebel school mascot, once associated with the Confederate flag.

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The Champlain Valley Fair, which opens on Aug. 24, does not have a formal policy, said Tim Shea, the executive director.

But, he said, he would ask any vendor to refrain from selling Confederate merchandise at the fair.

"It has happened in the past and we've asked them to not to," he said. "They've always been very accommodating."

Contact Jess Aloe at 802-660-1874 or jaloe@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @jess_aloe