Oak Bluffs Select Board and NAACP clash over flying of Juneteenth flag

Sarah Carlon, Cape Cod Times
·4 min read

OAK BLUFFS — The Oak Bluffs Select Board denied the Martha's Vineyard NAACP request to be heard at a June 14 meeting regarding its proposal to fly a Juneteenth flag on the Ocean Park flagpole.

Arthur Hardy Double-Day, president of the island's chapter of the NAACP, submitted an application on April 29 to the Select Board requesting approval to fly the commemorative flag on the Ocean Park flagpole from June 17 to June 20.

Double-Day said on May 9 the Oak Bluffs Parks Commission approved the organization's proposal, where it was sent to the Select Board for approval.

The Juneteenth flag commemorates the day that slavery ended in the U.S., June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Juneteenth flag commemorates the day that slavery ended in the U.S., June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

The proposal never made it to the board, however. On that same day, Select Board Chairman Ryan Ruley called Double-Day to tell him the NAACP's request would not be put on the agenda for the board's next meeting, slated for June 14.

Ruley did not respond to a request for comment from the Times.

What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth, recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, refers to the events of June 19, 1865, where the last enslaved people in Texas were told that slavery had been outlawed in the nation more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and over two months after the end of the Civil War.

Arthur Hardy-Doubleday is president of the Martha's Vineyard NAACP.
Arthur Hardy-Doubleday is president of the Martha's Vineyard NAACP.

Every aspect of the flag, according to a Martha's Vineyard NAACP news release, is symbolic: the white star represents both Texas, known as the Lone Star State, as well as the freedom enjoyed by formerly enslaved people after slavery was outlawed.

The flag's colors of red, white and blue were chosen to show that enslaved people, previously not given citizenship, were and have always been Americans.

More: Progress pride flag will fly in Oak Bluffs June 1-14, with Select Board and NAACP agreement

Progress Pride flag also received pushback

“I’m scratching my head wondering why it takes this amount of time and effort to get a flag that is symbolic of African Americans being American raised on a town flag pole," Double-Day said.

The news comes after a recent clash over flag flying between Martha's Vineyard's NAACP and Oak Bluffs Select Board in April over flying the progress pride flag, also at Ocean Park, for the month of June in honor of Pride Month.

The progress pride flag, according to Jennelle Gadowski, chair of the LGBTQ+ Committee for the island’s NAACP chapter, is a new take on the traditional rainbow pride flag that uplifts marginalized groups within the LGBTQ community, including transgender and Black, Indigenous and people of color.

The progress pride flag was displayed outside a school in Acton in 2022.
The progress pride flag was displayed outside a school in Acton in 2022.

The NAACP received pushback from the Select Board over the progress pride flag, with the main issue being whether third-party flags belong on town flagpoles, and if the board has the authority to make that decision.

The two groups settled on flying the progress pride flag from June 1-14, and a committee was formed to create an official flag policy for the town.

More: 'Welcoming for all': Juneteenth celebrations involve history, music, film and a Vineyard jubilee

Question about flying third-party flags

Despite the Select Board's approval of flying the progress pride flag for two weeks, members were still concerned about a then-pending U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding third-party flags in Boston.

On May 2, the Court ruled that Boston could not deny a Christian group's flag from being flown at City Hall if the city had flown other third-party secular flags.

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That further complicated Oak Bluffs' flag policy, and left some Select Board members concerned about the legal implications that could be thrust on the town if they decide to fly third-party flags.

In Double-Day's view, however, it is within the Select Board's right to decide what flies on town flagpoles, and not allowing the NAACP to state their case at the June 14 meeting was a disservice to public debate.

"This should be an application to the town, the Select Board can administratively review it, and they can approve or disapprove it," he said. "If the Ku Klux Klan asks to fly their flag, they can just say no."

Double-Day also said Juneteenth is now a federal holiday, potentially providing further legal protection for the town.

More: Freedom Day: Where you can celebrate Juneteenth this year around New England

The Juneteenth flag will be flown instead at the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, he said, and will be raised before the association's Juneteenth celebration on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Despite the town's refusal to fly the flag, Double-Day is pleased it will be present at the Camp Meeting Association, especially in light of recent research the president of the association, Andrew Patch, published on the exclusion of Black visitors at the site in the early 20th century.

“We are Oak Bluffs, we’ve been welcoming African Americans to our town, both year-round residents and visitors, for over 100 years," Double-Day said. "This is simple, I don’t care what background the board members might come from, this is really straightforward.”

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Oak Bluffs Select Board denied NAACP request to fly Juneteenth flag