NAACP Asks Alaskan Bar to Rename Their ‘Slave Auction’ Event
“Tell them to stick their nose back in their own business and leave us alone.”
A Sitka, Alaska, bar is holding a long running charity event and a portion of that event the Anchorage chapter of the NAACP deems "inflammatory and insensitive." The "slave auction" happened during the Alaskan Day Festival, which is held on Oct. 18, to commemorate Alaska going from Russian to American control. The event happened in 1867 and according to the festival website, the festival "celebrates the diversity of cultures and historical perspective of (their) people."
"(In) light of our country’s history of slavery in relation to African-Americans, the connotation of buying and selling people against their will into slavery -- that’s nothing to glorify. I’d like them to change the name, I’m not asking them to cancel the event.”
Sitka bartender Rita Ledbetter is the organizer of the event and she says she has no intention of doing so and doesn’t see the problem, according to the Alaska Dispatch News.
There is more than just the slave auction planned, the festival will include a parade, folk dancing, a luncheon, historical tours, musical performances and more throughout the day.
The event has been happening for over 30 years and happens at the well-known Sitka, Alaska bar the Pioneer Bar. Ledbetter is a bartender at the establishment. During the "slave auction," people auction off two hours of their time to do yard work, clean, cook or do other chores.
The proceeds from the auction go to various charities and they have raised $7,000 in the past. This year, the proceeds from the event will help benefit the Sitka Fire Department. The Alaska Day Festival doesn't organize the "slave auction" but they are aware that it doesn't happen. Ledbetter is the organizer for that specific event during the Alaskan Day Festival.
When questioned about the press release the NAACP had issued regarding her event, Ledbetter said she didn't know what the NAACP was and was "floored" by the group being upset with the name of her event. When asked what she would tell the group, Ledbetter said:
“Tell them to stick their nose back in their own business and leave us alone."
Before the "slave auction" happened, there was another event that that bar threw instead but sadly had to discontinue. The Pioneer Bar had to get rid of their wet T-shirt contest, because of the insurance cost and how "wild" it got.
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