Mailbag: Flag decision is more about division than equality

There are more vacancies for police officers than qualified applicants in Huntington Beach and a shortage of affordable housing, resulting in a parade of unhoused people sleeping on the streets of Surf City. Nevertheless, the reactionary majority on the newly seated city council chooses to put focus and devote time to the removal of the rainbow flag from City Hall, which flies each spring in recognition of Pride month.

With its sordid history as a haven for skin-head gangs and racially based hate crimes, Huntington Beach ought not to be looking to remove any symbol of tolerance or inclusiveness from its municipal establishments.

Ben Miles
Huntington Beach

The conservative four City Council members who voted to limit which flags can be flown over city property, thus excluding the rainbow Pride flag, mark Huntington Beach as homophobic!

Masking the vote as being patriotic does not excuse this vote. If this was the original vote on the motion to fly the Pride flag for one month during Pride month, then this argument might have some merit, but this vote was to vacate an action previously decided by a prior City Council. You don’t have to be gay to see that this 4-3 vote places the entire city as a prejudiced anti-LGBTQ community, instead of an open welcoming community, where I have resided for 61 years.

Why not fly Breast Cancer awareness flags during the month of October or Angel flags (when they make the playoffs)? It would certainly convey a positive philosophy instead of a negative image.

Richard C. Armendariz
Huntington Beach

I feel for you, H.B. My city also had a group of conservative extremists a few years ago who often pulled their extremist nonsense, but you know what? It took a few years, but eventually the moderate citizens of Costa Mesa gave them all the boot (with a little help from term limits). Don’t let this MAGA group run roughshod over you and your beautiful city, and so what if a marginalized group wants to fly a flag for a few weeks? It’s not like it’s a swastika. Plus, who’s that hurting? No one except for a sect that says they’re for individual freedoms until they’re not. So instead come out and vote in droves the next election because this is what the extremists do, and that’s how they seize power. The moderate rest of us get complacent, and then before you know it, people who have no business running government are suddenly doing so. Plus it’s so easy to vote in this state unlike in states where the MAGA-types hold sway. We believe in the right to vote for all Americans here in California and without all the stupid anti-democratic roadblocks in place that make voting a hassle all supposedly under the guise of protecting the ballot. (I’m talking to you Texas and Georgia, and we know what your true intent is.) Fact: Despite the braying on the right, there is no pervasive voter fraud in this country, and in the few cases when there has been it’s Republicans doing it! You don’t even have to leave your home if you don’t want to. Although I would find the nearest drop box just in case ... because unfortunately we are living in troubling times.

Mike Aguilar
Costa Mesa

Let’s be clear, Huntington Beach City Councilman Burns’ change to Huntington Beach’s flag policy is a clear and unmistakable attack on the LGBTQ community. His effort serves no constructive purpose. It doesn’t seek to clarify an outdated or cumbersome municipal code, nor does it address a pressing matter of public safety, city finances or maintaining our local infrastructure. Nope. This is Burns going out of his way to eliminate the city’s ability to display the world’s most prominent symbol of unconditional love, acceptance and inclusion.

While Mr. Burns claims he’s only seeking to “avoid actions that could easily or mistakenly be perceived as divisive,” his proposal alone has done precisely that. If approved, this proposal will leave Huntington Beach with the unmistakable stench of intolerance.

Steve Shepherd
Huntington Beach

I could not echo the sentiments of letter writer Lynn Lorenz loudly enough (Daily Pilot Mailbag, Feb. 3). Conservatives have tried to co-opt the term “silent majority” for use by their side ever since Richard Nixon first employed it in 1969, thus relegating their opponents (especially liberals) to being the “noisy minority.” This provided for them a pretext of tacit approval for their pronouncements and policies despite clear polling evidence of the opposite.

Just as with school boards and other battlegrounds of the culture wars being fought both locally and nationally, the co-option of the so-called silent majority of the Huntington Beach community is being attempted by the new and not universally respected conservative majority of the City Council. Councilman Pat Burns blogged recently “The city of Huntington Beach should avoid actions that could easily be perceived as divisive. We are one community with many different cultures and people. All are equally valued members of our community, and none are to be treated differently or discriminated against.”

The sheer effrontery of the councilman’s presumptive statement is mind-boggling. Tell that to the members of city boards and commissions, the LGBTQ segment of our citizenry, the mobile home community, environmental organizations and other progressive civic groups that have dared to be different that the new council majority is not being “divisive.” Tell them they are not being treated differently or discriminated against. Tell them they are being “equally valued.” Tell them there is not an anti-democratic and authoritarian bent to our new local government. Tell them it is better to stay silent and do nothing.

John Stuart Mill, the 19th Century philosopher, who reiterated the views of Edmund Burke and others previously in the statement, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing,” was proved true less than 100 years ago. It is equally true today in Surf City and elsewhere in Orange County.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

One year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

It’s hard to believe Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine began a year ago this month. Since then, millions of Ukrainians have left their homeland, hundreds of thousands have been wounded or killed and yet, despite all their military disadvantages, Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces have been relentless in their fight for freedom.

Here in Laguna Beach, people from one end of town to the other reacted quickly to the news. First, there was a gathering adjacent to City Hall. Second, there was a vigil at Main Beach. And third, there was a fundraiser at the Laguna Art Museum.

My guess is Vladimir Putin never thought the western alliance would provide the kind of support it has for Ukraine these past 12 months — let alone adding Japan, Australia, Israel and other nations to the mix. Now, heading into the second year of the war, the issue is this: How much longer will the fighting last?

Here at home, the modern-day fight for civil rights began nearly seven decades ago. Much of it started with the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, followed by the 1955-56 bus boycotts in the Deep South, the 1963 March on Washington, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and then the high Court’s 1967 Loving v. Virginia ruling.

It’s no wonder Pete Seeger and Joan Baez performed Louise Shropshire’s iconic anthem, “We Shall Overcome,” hundreds of times while I was growing up. Today, most of my conservative USC fraternity brothers call me a liberal idealist. I, on the other hand, consider myself a realist.

After I rewrote the lyrics to “We Shall Overcome” last year, I submitted my revision to newspapers as a letter to the editor. Thankfully, three papers published the letters. As a result, two individual musicians and two groups recorded their versions of “Ukraine Shall Overcome.”

To some, this may not account for much; but to me, and perhaps more importantly, to those who performed the song, it meant more than you can imagine. Why? Because we all were voluntarily adding our voices to something much bigger than ourselves — one nation’s pursuit of peace and democracy.

Please take a moment to listen to a version (or all of them) of “Ukraine Shall Overcome,” listed below. My hope is this song will reignite Americans’ support for the Ukrainian people who continue to fight for their freedom.

LagunaTunes Community Chorus of Laguna Beach: youtu.be/6TE1Vp-S_SY; Emergency room physician Eric Alcouloumre of Laguna Beach: youtube.com/watch?v=aTuxaPJbs4U; Raging Grannies of Spokane, Wa.: youtu.be/c-E5pR0Q4Xo; Larry Costello of Port Townsend, Wa.: youtu.be/_pU9dHzZA7k.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach

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