Last summer, a group of Athens community members stood before the Athens County Fair Board and asked that they ban the sale and display of the Confederate Flag at the County Fair. The Fair Board decided to put the decision to a vote by its full membership, and the ban was rejected. 

Since then, NASCAR, the US Marines, the US Navy, and even the State of Mississippi have decided to take a stand against racism and remove the Confederate flag from events and imagery. The sale and display of the flag have already been banned at the Ohio State Fair since 2015; Wal-Mart, eBay and Amazon have also banned the sale of Confederate merchandise as the flag has become increasingly connected to white supremacy and neo-Nazis. 

“The Confederate flag is a banner of white supremacy and a reminder of our nation’s original sin of slavery,” Rep. Juanita Brent, a Cleveland Democrat and sponsor of an amendment to ban the flag at all county fairs in Ohio. “Listening to the civil unrest, we need to take action and make changes so the people feel like they’re being heard." Around the country, businesses, entertainment industries, and government officials are listening. It is time for Athens County to make changes, too, and to listen to the voices of everyone in the community. 

We love the fair. We love 4-H. We love eating funnel cakes and visiting the goat barn. But we also believe that we cannot continue to support a Fair Board that is more interested in making money by promoting racist merchandise than in creating a family-friendly atmosphere for all. If you agree that the Athens County Fair should be welcome and safe to ALL members of our community, including Black and Brown families, please sign this petition, which will be delivered to the Athens County Fair Board at their July 7th, 2020 meeting.

Thank you for standing up for racial justice.

Ada Woodson Adams, Hilarie Burhans, Ann Moneypenny, Andrea Reik, Sue Righi, John Schmieding, Kerri Shaw, Kathleen Sullivan