One Georgetown resident is calling on the Town Council to express its disapproval of a Confederate flag at the town’s historical society, and giving town lawmakers a ready-made resolution to do so.
Jon Peterson has spoken during public comment at several council meetings in recent months about the Confederate flag that flies on the Georgetown Historical Society’s grounds. At a meeting last month, he called for the town to officially distance itself from the display of the Confederate flag, while acknowledging that Georgetown cannot require the society to remove it.
“When the Georgetown Historical Society displays the Confederate flag, it activates the public meaning of the Jim Crow regime,” he said. “I respectfully ask the town to place on the public record an unequivocal statement that the town of Georgetown bears no institutional connection to, assumes no responsibility for, and does not endorse or adopt the Confederate flag displayed by the Georgetown Historical Society.”
Peterson’s comments at that meeting prompted pushback from other members of the public, including Linda Dennis, who retorted that the Historical Society is a museum.
“I think that it would be a miscarriage of history to continue this ridiculous request that has gone on now for three times, so I'm requesting that you ignore it,” she told council members.
Peterson returned to the podium at last week’s council meeting, bringing with him a fully fleshed out resolution, which he submitted in advance for the public record.
“The Confederate flag at the Georgetown Historical Society carries the public meaning of human bondage, disunion, and armed rebellion against the United States,” he said.”
Peterson’s draft resolution recognizes that the First Amendment prohibits Georgetown’s government from banning the display of the flag. However, it also argues that, because of the Historical Society’s proximity to town property, visitors might assume the town endorses the display. The resolution also contends that a grant of $24,750 given by the town to the historical society in 2022 also muddies the waters for visitors.
last week’s meeting, some members of the public spoke briefly in favor of Peterson’s proposal. One of those was Lower Sussex Branch NAACP president Jane Hovington. In a sometimes-emotional comment recounting incidents of racism she has personally experienced, she indicated her opposition to the Confederate flag display.
“Enough already,” she said. “We've had discussions about the Confederate flag - to some, the Confederate flag is just a flag, but see, you don't know what it means to me.”
Tammy Hardy-Kesler said that the message the flag sends about the town’s climate could be discouraging some minorities from living there.
“Educated folks like my children - one that has their doctorate, the other one has their master's, and the other one has their bachelor’s - [are] not interested in moving in this town because they see the Confederate flag, they feel the hatred in this area, and we need to improve,” she said.
It seems unlikely that the draft resolution crafted by Peterson will see any action on the town council, however. Newly-elected Mayor Angie Townsend stoked controversy as a member of the town council in 2022 for supporting that grant to the historical society, sparking criticism from the NAACP, among others. Another current council member, Penuel Barrett, also supported that measure.
