Ending Racist Hate Incidents in Sussex County
The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ) will hold a Town Hall on May 21 at the Lewes Library at 6:00 pm. Ending Racist Hate Incidents in Sussex County.
The purpose of the meeting is to advocate for the cessation of hate incidents and harassment directed towards African Americans in Sussex County. The town will be in-person and available to view online. Please register to attend.
Felony Indictments
The town Hall is in response to the recent felony indictments of two volunteer Millville firemen who chased a Black employee around the fire station with a noose while yelling racial epithets. The incident was captured on video. The Millville Fire Department reacted swiftly once they learned of the incident which led to the felony indictments.
Unfortunately, SDARJ has learned of additional incidents in the past year directed at African Americans in Sussex County.
Marjorie Burns, Chair of SDARJ, stated that “these incidents should not be ignored or dismissed as isolated cases. SDARJ stands with the Black community to say that these incidents cannot be tolerated.“
Creating A Consensus Against Hate Incidents
The purpose of the town hall is to bring our community together to show that in Sussex County, there is an overwhelming consensus against these kinds of crimes.
We have invited speakers from business government and community organizations to talk about what they are doing to prevent these incidents from happening in the future. And we will also discuss what people can do if they experience a hate crime or incident.
Hearing from the public
We will also devote significant time on the agenda for members of the community to express their feelings about hate incident including if they have experienced such incidents themselves.
Confirmed speakers include Kirk Bacon, President of the Sussex County NAACP, Joseph Lawson, Executive Director of the Southern Delaware Alliance and for Racial Justice. We will provide updates as additional speakers confirm.
