GEORGETOWN, Del. - The Georgetown Town Council meeting on Monday night was everything but calm and orderly as town council members, members of the NAACP, and others expressed their concerns and opinions about funding the Georgetown Historical Society and the society's Marvel Carriage Museum.
Since 2007, the Marvel Carriage Museum has displayed an outdoor monument dedicated to Delawareans who served the Confederacy during the Civil War, and the rebel flag flies above the 12-foot-tall white granite slab.
Critics - including the NAACP - have called on the museum to remove the flag or at least move it indoors, saying that the Confederate flag is symbol of racism, hate, and division that has no place on public display. Critics have also urged the council not to approve funding to the museum. Similar concerns had led the state of Delaware in 2019 to eliminate an annual $14,400 grant to the museum, so this year the Georgetown Historical Society turned to the town for funding.
The Lower Sussex NAACP appeared on the agenda for Monday night's council meeting after canceling a scheduled presentation to the council earlier in the month. However, members fulfilled their request to make a presentation to the council and more on Monday as they demanded that the council defund the Georgetown Historical Society. The presentation included a timeline of the dark history behind the Confederate flag and information about how it has and continues to negatively impact the Black community.
"It has turned into a repulsive symbol of hate and oppression and violence and white privilege," one Lower Sussex NAACP representative said.
The Lower Sussex NAACP also singled out members of the council like councilwoman Sue Barlow, for her approval of the funds as an active member and former president of the Georgetown Historical Society. Councilwoman Angela Townsend was also addressed for her statements about the people of Georgetown "wanting" to have the flag upheld and flown.
The council eventually moved to the second item on the agenda related to funding for the Georgetown Historical Society: a discussion and vote to reclaim the more than $24,000 in funds given to the historical society last month. The Delaware attorney general's office proposed that the counsel vote on the matter after finding that the council's decision violated the Freedom of Information Act.
The discussion became a heated debate between members of the council, specifically Councilwoman Angela Townsend, Councilwoman Christina Diaz-Malone, Councilwoman Sue Barlow, and Mayor Bill West as they each expressed their own concerns about the council's operations.
"Stop it," Diaz-Malone said. "It's time to talk and if you don't want to talk, then whatever comes, comes."
The council's debate ended with a 3-2 vote in favor of not taking action to reclaim the funds given to the Georgetown Historical Society - a decision that sparked outrage amongst Mayor West and councilwoman Diaz-Malone, as well as the NAACP and others in attendance to the meeting.
During public comments, representatives from the Lower Sussex NAACP and the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice stated that they will be contacting the attorney general to ensure that legal action is taken against the Town of Georgetown.
