To the editor:

This statement is issued on behalf of the Barrington United Veterans Coalition and RI Coalition for Israel, the two grassroots organizations that have led the year-long fight against the flying of the “Black Lives Matter” movement flag on the Barrington town flagpole above the veterans memorial.

The Barrington Town Council has attempted to placate criticism of the town’s implied support of the anti-Semitic, anti-American, pro-Marxist BLM movement by the sleight-of-hand trick of replacing the BLM Movement flag with a homemade flag displaying the BLM Movement’s exact slogan.

This latest move by the council represents a significant, though partial, victory for citizen involvement. Credit is due to the dozens of residents who have repeatedly spoken up at town council meetings, taken part in concerted email campaigns, phoned council members, taken to the airwaves, and even shown up in person at anti-BLM movement rallies in downtown Barrington.

But there is more to be done. 

For one thing, the Barrington Town Council must divest itself of the notion that it’s okay to divide the town by such actions. They must provide a justification, for instance, that elevating the value of Black lives is acceptable while at the same time rejecting, as they have, requests to fly a Stop Anti-Semitism flag, at a time when acts of Jew-hatred are spiking nationwide. State-sanctioned discrimination, including state-sanctioned anti-Semitism, is not acceptable. This issue is currently before the US Supreme Court in Shurtleff v. Boston, regarding the Camp Constitution “Christian” flag.

In the end, the common-sense and unifying solution is for Barrington to adopt the same flag ordinance as the town of Warren: The flag poles located in front of Town Hall and those located on any municipally owned building or property shall only fly the United States Flag, the flag of the State of Rhode Island, the POW flag (POW/MIA) and the flag of the Town of Barrington.
There should be no discretion for either the town manager or town council to make exceptions.

Lt. Col. Paul Dulchinos

Barrington

Mary Greene

Peacedale