The citizens of Dahlonega wasted no time denouncing a Ku Klux Klan sign that was placed on top of a privately-owned business on the Dahlonega Square Thursday with students from the University of North Georgia holding a press conference at the Newton Oaks Building Tuesday night strongly urging students and citizens to boycott businesses owned by Roberta Green-Garrett.
Some local residents have accused the business owner of orchestrating the hanging of the banner last week.
This follows a protest that saw at least 80 people, many of them UNG students, flock to the the downtown square on Friday, the day after the sign was discovered, to voice their displeasure.
So far 16 UNG clubs and over 800 students have joined together in the boycott that is just days old and those numbers are expected to grow with each passing day.
“If this goes on for very long, we’ll only get more and more organized,” said UNG senior Cale Hatch, who was also at Friday’s protest and is one of the students leading the charge for the boycott.
UNG pre-law student Jeremy Sharp is heading the boycott initiative and he says that in addition to boycotting Green-owned businesses, they are asking Holiday Inn National, a company Green works with, to cut all business ties with her.
“If Holiday Inn is to be a company that promotes diversity and equality, they need to cut ties with Ms. Green,” Sharp said.
Almost all of Green’s businesses are in the real estate field which includes off-campus rental housing for UNG students.
One of the speakers at the press conference, Dayton Carter, was one of Green’s tenants.
“I did actually live in Roberta’s housing and she was very polite,” said Carter, vice president of the debate team and former president of the politically incorrect club at UNG. “She was always nice to me, and this is why I just don’t understand what’s happened. I don’t understand why Roberta would have these affiliations and my real question is that after emailing her, I don’t understand why she hasn’t responded to my emails.
“Why don’t you (Green) denounce this and let Dahlonega heal?”
Carter also realizes that it is an expensive endeavor to break a lease agreement, so he is not expecting people to be able to do that. Instead, he asks for those residents to look for alternate housing once their lease is up and to not recommend any housing owned by Green to those looking to move into the area.
To help people out, Sharp will be sending out a list of Green-owned businesses and alternate housing options for those looking to participate in the boycott.
Despite the fact that the conference was hosted on campus by the University and its students, many of those in attendance were longtime residents of Dahlonega concerned about the future of their town.
“If we cave to her, we might as well rename this town Robertaville,” Kathryn Farmer said.
Hope Harris was concerned that the boycott would adversely affect 150 or so third-party merchants who rent booths out of the two antique malls owned by Green.
“We are very aware of the potential damage that could be caused by a boycott of our local vendors who really don’t have a large say in the matter,” Carter said.
Sharp added that they are not including the two antique malls in the boycott for that reason.
Another question was that of Green’s right of free speech to which Sharp responded, “She does have free speech, but we have the right to assembly. We have the right to organize, and we have the right to boycott her businesses and hurt her financially."
“We aren’t a town to be pushed around and messed with,” said Parker Jordan, UNG sophomore and president of the UNG gay/straight alliance.
