Next Time, the Fires Could Be Here

The voices of the Huntington Beach City Council members, Ralph Bauer and Shirley Dettloff, against hate crimes (“Individuals Must Take a Stand to Help City Stop Hate Crimes,” Voices, June 23) resonates in my ears and sets a profound example for the rest of America at a crucial time like this.

Let’s admit it: Almost 30 years after the Civil Rights movement, instead of rebuilding to ameliorate our differences, we are, sadly, dismantling it. Toward that goal even the mostly conservative justices of the Supreme Court are doing a great job, and most extremists, elated by the court’s message, are having a wild party.

Leadership and the message it emanates are crucial. The wrong message from the top propels demented souls to commit the unthinkable, because setting a fire on black churches or killing a black man or a Native American or a Mexican would be OK.

In the end, as we know it from past grisly horrors, these demented souls turn the fire against their own, their families, their institutions. Unfortunately, after we witness the tragedy in Oklahoma or a sporadic desecration of synagogues, then we rush to lament. We ask, “Why?”

Of course, we know why. As a black man, even though I don’t have any evidence to point fingers, I feel I know why African American churches are burning in the South. What irks me though is why we wait too long to do something about it. Do we really have to see the horrors to be evoked? Should our political leaders, religious leaders, civic leaders wait for Oklahoma to happen again?

The fires consuming African American churches in the South will be your church tomorrow unless we do something to stop this malady now. In closing, I must applaud the Huntington Beach City Council members once again for their exemplary leadership, and I hope others will follow suit.

DAN GIZAW

Tustin