Letters to the Editor: ‘Common ground’ with the Ku Klux Klan? Huntington Beach has a problem

To the editor: As Huntington Beach was preparing for a Ku Klux Klan rally and, in response, a Black Lives Matter counterprotest, police department spokesman Lt. Brian Smith said, “We hope that they can utilize events like this as a means to find the common ground and work together for a common goal.”

What possible “common goal” or “common ground” can be found when dealing with the KKK?

I recognize the right of groups like the KKK to assemble and protest, but until leaders in communities like Huntington Beach are unified in their outright condemnation of hate groups, they will continue to see them flourish.

Loring Davies, Brea

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To the editor: Huntington Beach has serious issues going back decades.

Yes, city leaders have taken well-intentioned steps, but the citizenry has spoken, and it keeps on speaking. The mayor pro tem, a MAGA card-carrying, anti-mask, conspiracy theorist tough guy, was elected to the City Council with the largest number of votes in Huntington Beach’s history.

Perhaps the local police are part of the problem as well. The department spokesman said, “We just hope everybody can be respectful of each other, treat everybody with dignity and understand that everybody has different perspectives and different opinions.”

Say what? Let’s be frank: Hate is wrong. It’s not a different perspective; it’s corrosive, it’s divisive, it’s toxic, and it’s just wrong.

Years ago I gave Huntington Beach a pass after being harassed by skinheads. I’ve never felt comfortable in the restaurants and bars there, opting instead to patronize those next door in Newport Beach. It appears this won’t be changing any time soon.

John Knox, Costa Mesa