Each fall, the Fountain City Lions Club sponsors a festival named for Levi Coffin, renowned Quaker abolitionist and President of the Underground Railroad. However, by allowing the sale of Confederate flags, the Club dishonors Coffin’s anti-slavery legacy and demeans all those who have been a target of the hate that the flag represents.
The Confederate flag is a symbol of racism. It was waved by rebels waging war against the United States to preserve slavery, and it was waved by segregationists resisting the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century. It is not a symbol of southern pride; Alabama and South Carolina have removed it from their state capitols, and Georgia and Mississippi have removed it from their state flags.
Not bound by a governmental guarantee of free speech, the Club is free to ban unwelcome divisive vendors from its festival. Surely blackface minstrels and whites-only toilets would be unwelcome. The Confederate flag should be unwelcome, too, and the Lions Club should ban it from Levi Coffin Days.
Updates
January 2, 2022
I AM CURRENTLY DRAFTING FORMAL LETTERS TO THE LIONS CLUB LEADERSHIP TO DEMAND A CLEAR POLICY CHANGE BEFORE THE NEXT FESTIVAL!! THIS SYMBOL HAS NO PLACE AT A CELEBRATION HONORING A CHAMPION OF FREEDOM AND YOUR PASSIONATE COMMENTS ARE FUELING THE FIGHT EVERY SINGLE DAY!!
January 2, 2022
THIS MOMENTUM IS ABSOLUTELY ELECTRIC!! WE ARE FINALLY SHOWING THE LIONS CLUB THAT OUR COMMUNITY REFUSES TO LET LEVI COFFIN'S LEGACY BE DISHONORED BY HATEFUL SYMBOLS!!
Reached 100 supporters
January 2, 2022
61 Comments
Racist symbols matter. Generations of Black Americans have been clear that to them, the confederate flag represents hatred, white supremacy and systemic racism. Products with this symbol have no place at a festival connected to the Quaker abolitionist Levi Coffin. Any such products should not be displayed or sold at Levin Coffin Days.
Please stop the usage and sale of Confederate memorabilia at Levi Coffin Days. Fountain City (Newport) was founded by abolitionists and were actively resisting the Confederacy.
I am signing this petition as presiding clerk for Oxford Friends Meeting in Oxford, Ohio. We are in unity that the display of this segregationist flag dishonors the memory of Levi and Catherine Coffin.
How dare anyone sell the symbol of white supremacy at the home of a leading abolitionist. Absurd and hurtful! P. Schenck, Annapolis Friends Meeting.
As a Quaker Minister and one who stands against hate, I do not believe the confederate flag has any place at a festival honoring a Levi Coffin - one who stood up for antiracist and the freedom of slaves in our country.
The confederate flag is undeniably a source of controversy. Controversy has no place at a community event aimed at building goodwill and a better understanding. To uphold their international mission "to serve with a kind heart", the Fountain City Lions must ban the controversial confederate flag from ANY event they sponsor; Levi Coffin Days especially. If counsel is needed on the subject, club members could contact their current International President, Douglas X. Alexander... nice guy... also a black man.
Please do not sell these flags. They are symbols of hatred.
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Each fall, the Fountain City Lions Club sponsors a festival named for Levi Coffin, renowned Quaker abolitionist and President of the Underground Railroad. However, by allowing the sale of Confederate flags, the Club dishonors Coffin’s anti-slavery legacy and demeans all those who have been a target of the hate that the flag represents.
The Confederate flag is a symbol of racism. It was waved by rebels waging war against the United States to preserve slavery, and it was waved by segregationists resisting the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century. It is not a symbol of southern pride; Alabama and South Carolina have removed it from their state capitols, and Georgia and Mississippi have removed it from their state flags.
Not bound by a governmental guarantee of free speech, the Club is free to ban unwelcome divisive vendors from its festival. Surely blackface minstrels and whites-only toilets would be unwelcome. The Confederate flag should be unwelcome, too, and the Lions Club should ban it from Levi Coffin Days.
Updates
January 2, 2022
I AM CURRENTLY DRAFTING FORMAL LETTERS TO THE LIONS CLUB LEADERSHIP TO DEMAND A CLEAR POLICY CHANGE BEFORE THE NEXT FESTIVAL!! THIS SYMBOL HAS NO PLACE AT A CELEBRATION HONORING A CHAMPION OF FREEDOM AND YOUR PASSIONATE COMMENTS ARE FUELING THE FIGHT EVERY SINGLE DAY!!
January 2, 2022
THIS MOMENTUM IS ABSOLUTELY ELECTRIC!! WE ARE FINALLY SHOWING THE LIONS CLUB THAT OUR COMMUNITY REFUSES TO LET LEVI COFFIN'S LEGACY BE DISHONORED BY HATEFUL SYMBOLS!!
Reached 100 supporters
January 2, 2022
61 Comments
Levi would be horrified at anything Confederate-related being associated with an event in his family's memory. Don't address this by changing the name of the festival, address it by not selling racist emblems.
Racist symbols matter. Generations of Black Americans have been clear that to them, the confederate flag represents hatred, white supremacy and systemic racism. Products with this symbol have no place at a festival connected to the Quaker abolitionist Levi Coffin. Any such products should not be displayed or sold at Levin Coffin Days.
Please stop the usage and sale of Confederate memorabilia at Levi Coffin Days. Fountain City (Newport) was founded by abolitionists and were actively resisting the Confederacy.
I am signing this petition as presiding clerk for Oxford Friends Meeting in Oxford, Ohio. We are in unity that the display of this segregationist flag dishonors the memory of Levi and Catherine Coffin.
How dare anyone sell the symbol of white supremacy at the home of a leading abolitionist. Absurd and hurtful! P. Schenck, Annapolis Friends Meeting.
As a Quaker Minister and one who stands against hate, I do not believe the confederate flag has any place at a festival honoring a Levi Coffin - one who stood up for antiracist and the freedom of slaves in our country.
The confederate flag is undeniably a source of controversy. Controversy has no place at a community event aimed at building goodwill and a better understanding. To uphold their international mission "to serve with a kind heart", the Fountain City Lions must ban the controversial confederate flag from ANY event they sponsor; Levi Coffin Days especially. If counsel is needed on the subject, club members could contact their current International President, Douglas X. Alexander... nice guy... also a black man.
Please do not sell these flags. They are symbols of hatred.
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Levi would be horrified at anything Confederate-related being associated with an event in his family's memory. Don't address this by changing the name of the festival, address it by not selling racist emblems.