A Confederate flag displayed at a vendor’s booth at this week’s Vigo County Fair may be raising some eyebrows, considering the controversy about the flag’s perception by many people as a symbol of racism and separatism in southern states.
But the rules of the Vigo County Fair Board do not prohibit sale or display of Confederate flags by vendors or people participating or attending the week-long event on the city’s south side.
Fair Board president Jennifer Cook said fairgrounds rules do prohibit the sale of guns and knives, but do not limit items that might be considered offensive, such as Confederate or Nazi flags.
Cook said she plans to talk to fair board members about the issue, but until that group makes a decision that prohibits particular items, she did not feel it is appropriate to have the flag removed from display.
“Until I get a chance to investigate things, they are doing nothing illegal,” Cook said. “I have to move appropriately.”
She also noted that in the campground area of the fairgrounds, someone is displaying a large Confederate flag at their campsite.
“If I tell them to take that down, I’ve crossed the line of what’s appropriate,” Cook said.
The Confederate flag has been embroiled in controversy for many years as a symbol used by some racist organizations. Most recently, it has been connected to a tragic shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., where a gunman killed nine black parishioners who had gathered for a Bible study on June 18.
Photos of the gunman, an admitted racist, show him posing with a Confederate flag. The South Carolina legislature recently voted to remove the flag from public display, and that flag came down on Friday.
On Monday at the county fair, a Confederate flag measuring about five feet long was prominently on display next to an American flag at a vendor booth under the fairgrounds grandstand. The booth sells novelty items, garments, handbags and hats. The man and woman managing the booth told the Tribune-Star they were hired to operate the booth by someone from New York. The woman said she and her sales partner were Chinese, and they speak limited English.
A request was made at the fairgrounds office for the name of the person renting the vendor booth. However, that record was not readily available, and it was noted that many vendors sign up for booth space online.
At the booth, one local man on Monday afternoon picked up one of the $10 Confederate flags out of a box of assorted flags, paid for it and gave it to his adult nephew who was standing nearby.
Ronald Brown Jr. said his uncle bought him the flag because he knows Brown likes it.
“I’m completely redneck,” Brown said. “I’m not racist or nothing. I just like a rebel flag. I wear camouflage. I hunt deer. I drive a big truck. I like redneck things.”
A West Terre Haute resident, Brown said he plans to hang the flag in his bedroom at home. He said he has a rebel flag license plate on the front of his pickup truck, and it has a heart containing his name and the name of his fiance.
Brown said he is aware of the recent controversy about the flag, and he is unhappy with the fallout.
“It sucks, because my favorite TV show was “Dukes of Hazzard,” and it got canceled,” Brown said. The General Lee, a car in the show, displays the “stars and bars” on its roof.
When asked if people have expressed concerns to him about his display of the flag, or if people have accused him of being racist, Brown, who is white, said he has sometimes heard those concerns.
“It varies, ‘cause I’m white, and they think I’m gonna go out there and do something. But I ain’t gonna shoot no one, unless you’re a deer,” Brown said.
At another booth located along the row of vendors, several belt buckles displaying rebel flags were for sale, as were hats with the flag and with derogatory language. The booth also had hats and belt buckles displaying marijuana leaves.
When asked, the person managing the booth said he had heard no concerns about his merchandise having a rebel flag or a marijuana leaf on them.