Letter: Objections, questions raised with board of supervisors resolution 

To the editor,

– Today, our board of supervisors will vote on a resolution, “condemning racism, bigotry, bias and hate speech in our community.” At first glance, this seems like a no-brainer to pass. But there are some real considerations that warrant addressing.

1. The resolution states intent to, “cultivate an inclusive community,” in our county. We are not aided in this endeavor by falsely flagging the entire community of Templeton as racist. Leave Templeton out of it. Allow the overpass incident to serve as a catalyst for our county to adopt a resolution condemning racial supremacy of any kind, without further falsely labeling the community of Templeton. They have already sustained enough damage as a result of the incident. As Supervisor Peschong stated in a previous BOS meeting, the ‘white pride’ sign holders were not from Templeton or even from our county for that matter.
2. The proposed resolution uses heated terms such as; extreme, hate, racial, bias, diversity, equity, inclusion, etc. But it does not define any of these terms. If these terms are to be used in the labeling of individuals or acts that are to be condemned by our county then it is only fair that the county clearly define these terms within the resolution.
3. The board would be better served to adopt a resolution condemning all forms of supremacy based on race, gender, religion, or political ideology. Why not simplify the resolution to focus on a more all-inclusive concept of supremacy? Racism, bigotry, bias, and hate speech are acts resulting from supremacy — supremacy is the root.
4. Rightfully so, speech considered hateful is contentious. It is also protected by our 1st Amendment and the Supreme Court. The right to free speech is what distinguishes our nation from all others and allows our nation to progress. It enables us to object to wrongdoings by our governing body and to lobby for course corrections within our system of government. Do we really want to so directly condemn the 1st Amendment or would it be more accurate to condemn all forms of supremacy?

-Sara Semmes, Atascadero

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