Pro-cop or anti-BLM? 'Thin Blue Line' flag in Irvington raises another community conflict
The "Thin Blue Line" flag, which symbolizes very different things to different people, has again divided a Lower Hudson Valley community.
Last week, four residents of Irvington told their board of education they were disturbed to learn that the high school football team had carried the flag − a black-and-white American flag with a blue stripe across the middle − on their home field before a game on Sept. 10.
"It opposes everything I stand for as a Black person," resident Kelly Scott said of the flag.
The blue line flag has caused controversy around the country in recent years, including locally, because of sharply varying takes on what it really represents. Some say the flag, also known as the "Blue Lives Matter" flag, simply shows support for police and remembers those officers killed on duty. Others say the flag's meaning was coopted as a willful counterpoint to the Black Lives Matter movement or even as a symbol of white supremacy.
Irvington Superintendent Kristopher Harrison said at last Tuesday's board meeting he learned of the incident earlier that day. On Wednesday, he sent a note to the community saying, "Regardless of intention, I recognize that this non-sanctioned activity caused concern and harm to some members of our community."
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Harrison wrote that it was the football team's intention to honor first responders who served on Sept. 11, 2001, and not to make a political statement. He noted the team had also put American flag stickers on their helmets.
He called the actions regrettable, saying "context matters, and controversial, politicized messages are not representative of the inclusive, welcoming community that we seek to be."
The community − a village of about 6,600 people with a school district of about 1,700 students − reacted intensely.
Comments pour in
As of Monday morning, there were more than 300 comments in a private Irvington Facebook group, running the gamut from condemnation of Harrison's note to insistence that the flag should not be used at school events.
"This has been eating at me since reading the email last night," one post read. "Apologies for being American, patriotic and for showing appreciation to our first responders and law enforcement is now not acceptable in the Irvington schools? Where the heck do we live??"
Another commenter, describing herself as a military daughter "through and through," wrote, "Symbols and flags have meanings, sometimes the intended meaning shifts when people misuse them. The Blue Lives Matter flag is a highly politicized symbol that maybe wasn’t intended to be hurtful, but its meaning has shifted."
Others lamented extreme posts on both sides, including from people outside the community, would not accurately represent Irvington.
School district officials have also received many comments from across the country.
Harrison and school board President Brian Friedman declined to comment Monday.
The co-presidents of the Irvington PTSA said the organization is "listening to all the voices in our community" before determining whether to take a stance.
The Irvington school district is one of several in the region that have been aggressively looking to remove bias from their practices and instruction − a priority of state education leaders. The village has also tried to reckon with the history of slavery in the area.
Rise of the flag
The term "thin blue line," which refers to the short distance between order and chaos, has been used since the early 20th century to describe law enforcement. The flag, though, has only been commonly seen over the last decade.
The flag has been displayed at funerals for fallen police officers across the U.S. in recent years.
It was also carried at the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
After the blue line flag was raised in 2017 at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a company that had been making the flags since 2014 said in a statement: "To use it in such a way tarnishes what it and our nation believe in. The thin blue line flag stands for the sacrifice law enforcement officers of this nation make each day."
The Pelham community was sharply divided in 2020 when Superintendent Cheryl Champ banned a sweatshirt bearing the blue line flag and the name of a New York Transit Police detective who was killed on duty in 1976. The shirt was sold by the officer's family to raise money for the families of slain officers. But Champ said she acted after hearing from students and families who saw the blue line flag symbol as threatening and intimidating.
In 2021, Sleepy Hollow’s village board voted to ban any symbol or words from being displayed on village vehicles. The Sleepy Hollow Fire Department had started flying a American flag with a half red, half blue stripe from its truck, a symbol meant to honor lost firefighters and police officers, but was told after the vote to remove the flag, department Chief John Korzelius said in a statement to the community. The village board reversed its decision this past March, allowing the flags on fire trucks again.
Last month, a California school district said its football team would no longer carry the flag since some are concerned about its use to "divide and exclude."
Gary Stern is a veteran editor/writer covering K-12 education in the Hudson Valley. Reach him at gstern@lohud.com. Twitter: @garysternNY.
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: 'Blue Line Flag' divides Irvington, Westchester community
