Members of the DC Gay Men’s Chorus Cabaret who performed at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center on January 12, 2013: Alex Tong, Eric Peterson, Kerry Neal, David Shotwell, Evan Ayars, Thea Kano, Matt Thompson, D’Arcee Neal, Owen Taggert, Kevin Thomason, Richard Weiberg, Michael Smith, and Lenny Smith.
An Open Letter to Rehoboth Beach
When I was a little kid, I grew up in the north in Ohio. I grew up in a place that most people barely know of, because usually if you’re hearing about my city, you’re hearing about a gun shooting at the college, or the state of depression in the area because all of the steel factories have been closed down for years and the city is barely surviving on the fumes of its own existence. I lived in a place where the sunsets would bleed orange, pink, and purple from the chemical fumes sprayed into the air by the last remaining plants on the other side of the city. And I lived in a place run by the Mafia. Where common street thugs spray painted racial epithets over my parents’ house after they robbed all our possessions and where the cops knew about it and yet did nothing.
Many of the towns in America are becoming descrated by fear, loathing, and depression because society tells them that this is the way people treat each other. The poor stay poor because no one helps one another, where the disabled and the elderly are shuttered in their houses because the system and the city has designed it where freedom of access has been taken from them. Where gays and lesbians hide in fear in the corners of society whispering to one another for fear that someone might hear and call the cops. It’s what I saw when I traveled to a lot of the cities here in the United States.
But I ask, what is it that you see when you look at Rehoboth Beach? To some, it could be the quiet streets with the tourist shops lined up perfectly on each side, selling trinkets and souvenirs to visitors worldwide. To others, it could be the view of the beach surrounding picturesque neighborhoods as the ocean mist creeps in during the evenings.
I had never actually been to Rehoboth Beach, or to any part of Delaware in truth. But when I arrived in Rehoboth to perform with the DC Gay Men’s Chorus (or GMCW as we call ourselves,) back in the earlier part of January, I saw a village with the soul of a big city that is unlike anything else for miles around.
Like I said. I don’t know much of the area, or the people that live in it, so I can only offer my opinions as they come, but as I traveled there for the performance, I was stunned by the different locales and the sheer variety of communities that make up the area. Farmlands, marshes, iron bridges, quaint town squares with the obligatory church towers lining the main streets. All of it makes up the area that surrounds Rehoboth, and yet for all of its differences, none of it is like Rehoboth itself.
As a gay black man growing up and traveling to various different countries, I’ve been no stranger to controversy, gawking, and the occasional laugh as I try to assimilate myself into each and every different environment that I come across so that I can make myself feel more comfortable. In truth, I was a little apprehensive when hearing about the opportunity to travel to Rehoboth Beach. Will it filled with snobby uptight white people? Perhaps it will be a religious fortress of sorts, and will we have to worry about our safety when we go? These were a few of the questions that were in my mind. After all, Delaware isn’t a particularly talked about state unless I think of it in terms of Ivy Leaguers and Quakers, neither of which make up my particular background, so I figured I had a good enough reason to be on my guard.
However, when I got there and saw the lovely courtyard with coffeehouses and cobblestones surrounded by businesses advertising equality, love, and acceptance, I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything like it. I think that what you all have is a wonderful mecca of equality and tolerance, and none of it can be traded for any amount of business. I know that it may not have the glitz and glamour of a major metropolis. It lacks the star power of a neighborhood in New York, with its citizens artfully sipping lattes with their glittered scarves wrapped around their throats. It doesn’t have the guts of Boston, the steel cage city with its vibrant city scene beating deep down. There are many things that Rehoboth Beach doesn’t have. But what it lacks in amenities, it makes up for in charm and hospitality, the scenery and warmth, which can outshine any major city.
I had a marvelous time performing for the residents there in the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center and meeting with Fay and the crew. Our shows become so much better when the relevance behind what we sing is apparent in so many people’s eyes. In Rehoboth, I could see the living embodiment of the spirit of love.
To the people of Rehoboth Beach, keep your wonderful spirit high and keep your arms welcoming and open. Be proud to be who and what you are, and let others see that places where people are accepted as they are can be thriving successful communities that refuse to cower at the demands of a country where many others are still seen as second class, even in today’s modern world.
I saw a fairytale of a town built on the edge of the sea like something from an Aesop fable. And it’s that vision that will keep me coming back as a fan.
Sincerely, a new fan of your city,
D’Arcee C. Neal
Baritone, Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington