Letters to the Editor: We need to talk about racism and ‘blue lives matter’

To the editor: The low turnout for the “white lives matter” rally in Huntington Beach on April 11 is no doubt partly due to the fact that many people are ashamed to overtly support such a racist assembly.

Yet wherever one goes, one sees altered flags, signs and bumper-stickers saying “blue lives matter.” Aside from the smart few who display them on cars because a cop would be more inclined to let you off with a warning, these mostly white, conservative people are oblivious of the racist reek of these signs.

Who doesn’t think cops’ lives matter? Only criminals and some on the far, far left. Black Lives Matter is about the disproportional violence African Americans meet at the hands of the police. “Blue lives matter” implies that Black people do not care about cops.

There is not a systemic or racial attack on cops, only the dangers and tragedies that have always crossed the thin blue line that should protect all of us.

Guy Lombardo, Valencia

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To the editor: A popular antiwar poster in the 1960s asked, “Suppose they gave a war and nobody came?” The implied answer, of course, was that there would be no war.

The same could be true of white nationalism rallies. If counterprotesters didn’t give these rallies legitimacy and media coverage, they would lose significance.

Suppose they gave a rally and nobody came?

Linda Shahinian, Culver City