Since 2015, area residents have been asking the Delaware County Fair in Walton, NY to stop selling racist paraphernalia. Our combined efforts have raised awareness about this issue statewide, and led other NY county fairs to forbid the sale of this merchandise.
However, we have not received word of any change in policy by the Delaware County Fair Board for the 2021 Delaware County Fair, which is scheduled for August 16-21. A Fair for All activist reached out to a member of the Fair's Board of Directors to discuss the Fair's policy this year, but received no response.
In 2019, in response to our pressure, the Fair Board did finally instruct vendors not to display full-sized Confederate flags outside tents. But they continued to allow vendors to sell and display hats, belt buckles, T-shirts, and other paraphernalia emblazoned with the Confederate flag. These half-measures are insulting. If Amazon, WalMart, eBay, Nascar, the Pentagon, and the State of Mississippi can acknowledge the harm caused by that racist symbol, surely county fairs in New York State can, too.
The Delaware County Fair Board must end their shameful allowance of the sale and display of hate symbols and merchandise at our county fair. The Fair Board is allergic to bad press and loss of sponsorship dollars. Here’s a list of things that you can do to get them to be on the right side of history:
Contact the Fair Board
Phone: 607-865-4763 | Email contact form. Please cc fair for all at Delcofairforall@gmail.com.
Write a Letter to the Editor to the Reporter and/or the Daily Star.
Write or Tweet at McDonald’s calling on them to withdraw their sponsorship of the fair unless they adopt a policy banning the sale and display of hate merchandise. Please cc: Fair for All or tag us in your tweet. McDonald’s issued a statement in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement; it is time for actions to meet words.
Check out the list of Fair sponsors here and write or call your bank, your car dealership, local businesses you frequent, and organizations that you support, urging them to withdraw their sponsorship of the fair if the fair board doesn’t heed calls to adopt a policy banning the sale and display of hate merchandise.
Support Fair For All’s ongoing work
We are an all-volunteer grassroots organization advocating for safe, welcoming fairs across New York State. Donations to support our work are warmly appreciated. You can donate to Fair for All here.