Delaware County Fair Board Rebuffs NYS Ag Dept Request, Allows Sale of Confederate Merchandise
The opening of the Delaware County Fair this week was marred once again by the sale of Confederate flags and flag-themed merchandise, with this supposedly family-friendly event serving as a platform for the spread of racist symbols of white supremacy. At least six fair vendors had Confederate flag merchandise for sale, all highly visible and sending a message of hate and exclusion to fairgoers.
Just days before the fair's opening, after a media campaign by Fair for All, the NY State Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets had asked all 52 county fairs in New York stop selling "items that run counter to our great state's history of inclusion for all."
The Delaware County Fair Board chose to ignore this request. They also broke their promise to the local Cornell Cooperative Extension and the local branch of the NAACP that this year the board would not allow hate merchandise to be displayed outside vendors’ tents. In 2018, once again, the Confederate flag is on full view outside tents at the Delaware County Fair.
Fair for All is appalled by the dishonesty of the Delaware County Fair Board and by its determined embrace of hate paraphernalia.
We renew our call to Cornell University and the Cornell Cooperative Extension, which play major roles in this and all county fairs in New York State, to speak out against the continued sale and display of hate merchandise, and to actively educate for racial awareness in their 4H and extension programs.
Fair for All invites those who object to the sale of the flag at the fair to sign its petition to Cornell at: https://tinyurl.com/fairforall-cornell, and to send emails to Cornell President Martha Pollack (president@cornell.edu) and Delaware County Cornell Cooperative Extension executive director Jeanne Darling: (jmd30@cornell.edu). CC Fair for All at: delcofairforall@gmail.com
