He hopes the crackdown will drive Orange Crush away for good.
Tybee Island police reported 26 total arrests during Orange Crush last year.
Ironic twist Savannah Mayor Van Johnson was one of the Black students from Savannah State who helped launch Orange Crush in 1988.
It’s not the first time Tybee Island has targeted the Black beach party.
In 2017, the City Council banned alcohol and amplified music on the beach only during Orange Crush weekend.
West says Orange Crush is different because it’s promoted on social media by people who haven’t obtained permits.
In February, Britain Wigfall was denied an permit for space on the island for food trucks during Orange Crush.
Wigfall, 30, said he’s promoting a concert this weekend in Savannah, but nothing on Tybee Island involving Orange Crush.
Island of Tybee, Georgia. There will be barricades blocking off nearby streets and dozens of additional police officers waiting to greet the thousands of Black college students who are anticipated for this weekend’s annual spring celebration at Georgia’s largest public beach. The beach will stay open, but access to the surrounding parking is being restricted by officials.
Known as Orange Crush, the April beach party has plagued Tybee Island, east of Savannah, ever since its inception more than 30 years ago by students at Savannah State University, a historically Black university. Loud music, trash all over the sand, and partygoers urinating in yards were frequent complaints from the locals.
A year ago, record crowds estimated to number over 100,000 people overran the 3-mile island, causing those complaints to explode in fear and fury. A small police force was tasked with managing an influx of emergency calls pertaining to gunshots, drug overdoses, traffic congestion, and physical altercations.
Roadblocks and additional police aren’t only for controlling crowds, according to Mayor Brian West, who was chosen by Tybee Island’s 3,100 residents in the fall election. He is hoping Orange Crush will be permanently driven away by the crackdown.
“This needs to end.”. This crowd is no longer acceptable,” West declared. “It’s to be ended. “.”.
Local authorities last year, according to CBS Savannah affiliate WTOC-TV, deemed the unapproved beach party too disorderly and claimed it resulted in traffic accidents and congestion throughout Tybee. According to the station, Michelle Owens, the interim city manager, the modifications are meant to maintain traffic flow and are in line with the precautions other beach communities have taken for significant springtime events.
Is racism a factor here?
Detractors claim that local government is going too far and that Black tourists are being singled out at a beach in the South that was exclusively White until 1963. They observe that Tybee Island draws large crowds on Fourth of July and other summer weekends, with 92% of the island’s population being White.
Julia Pearce, one of the few Black residents of the island and the head of the Tybee MLK Human Rights Organization, said, “Our weekends are packed with people all season, but when Orange Crush comes they shut down the parking, bring extra police and act like they have to take charge.”. They think people of color are criminals,” she continued. “.”.
Workers blocked off residential streets and parking meters along the main road that runs parallel to the beach with metal barricades during the course of the week. Two sizable parking lots close to a well-liked pier are going to close. Additionally, about 100 sheriff’s deputies, Georgia state troopers, and other officers will supplement the roughly two dozen police officers now on Tybee Island.
Plans for security took cues from strategies used by the chief of police on Tybee Island last month to lessen crowds and violence during spring break in Miami Beach.
Authorities justify the actions.
With crowds at least twice as large as usual, last year’s Orange Crush party turned into a public safety emergency, according to officials, who are adamant that they are taking action to prevent a repeat of that incident.
“It has nothing to do with race,” stated West, who feels that the reason city officials haven’t been more vocal against Orange Crush in the past is because they don’t want to be associated with racism. “We’re not going to allow that to be an excuse to leave our citizens in danger. “.
During Orange Crush last year, Tybee Island police reported 26 arrests in total. A total of five DUIs, four counts of public fighting, and one armed robbery with a firearm were charged. Two officers reported that bottles were thrown at them, and two women said that they were assaulted and had their purse taken from them.
One person was hurt when a gunman opened fire on a car on a congested highway approximately a mile offshore. Officials attributed the shooting, which included a White man, to road rage.
Both Orange Crush’s supporters and critics agree that college students are not the root of all problems.
Savannah State University senior Joshua Miller, 22, said he wouldn’t be shocked if the crackdown had some racial motivation. Miller plans to attend this weekend.
Miller remarked, “I have no idea what they have planned.”. “I have no malice in my heart when I descend there. I’m merely going to enjoy myself there. “.
twist of irony.
One of the Black Savannah State students involved in the 1988 Orange Crush launch was Savannah Mayor Van Johnson. According to Johnson, the celebration “went off the rails” over time, and the university stopped being involved in the 1990s. Nevertheless, he also expressed to the media his worries about the “over-representation of police” at the beach party.
While many nearby stores and restaurants will close for Orange Crush, Nickie’s 1971 Bar and Grill by the beach will remain open and continue to serve takeout meals, as it did the year before, according to general manager Sean Ensign. However, Ensign stated that his earnings might be negatively impacted, “perhaps a few thousand dollars,” due to the closure of surrounding parking spots. “.
The Black beach party has previously been the target of Tybee Island. Only during Orange Crush weekend in 2017 did the City Council forbid the consumption of alcoholic beverages and loud music near beaches. A report of discrimination filed with the U. S. Justice Department led to the signing of a non-binding agreement by city officials to enforce uniform regulations for major events.
According to West, Orange Crush is unique since its promoters on social media are unlicensed individuals. Thanks to a new state law, local governments can charge organizers of events that are not authorized for public safety expenses.
An island permit for food truck parking during Orange Crush was denied to Britain Wigfall in February. According to the mayor, Wigfall is still pushing island events.
“It’s not under my control,” Wigfall stated. The day that individuals go down there is not under anyone’s control. “.
