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To the editor:
With each passing year, the month of June becomes more contentious. The annual flag debate is both a cause and a reflection of our divided society and that is unfortunate. But it comes as no surprise and the elected officials of Croton have no excuse for not having a coherent policy by this point.
Last year, I discussed at length the issue of the “Pride” flag history (The Gazette, June 16/22, 2022) for those interested in the topic. I also discussed the concern of some residents that the American flag was not being displayed in the manner required by 4 USC 7. I also noted that that provision of the US Code has no penalty provision and would not be enforced by a federal court due to Constitutional issues.
There are two flagpoles at the Municipal Building. One is at the World War I memorial on the side of the building, and the other is the tall flagpole at the front of the building. Traditionally the flagpole at the memorial had the American flag and POW flag. The tall flagpole had the American flag with the Tree City flag below it.
The problem started when Croton started flying the Pride flag. The village took down the American flag from the tall flagpole for the entire month of June and put up the Pride flag exclusively. This was offensive to many residents, and understandably so.
The village solution was to cease flying the American flag from the tall flagpole, and only fly the Tree City flag during 11 months of the year. In June 2023 the tall flagpole flew the Pride flag for the entire month, and for a few days a Juneteenth banner was displayed from the yardarm near the bottom.
These were policy decisions made by the Croton Board of Trustees, and you would think they would be professional enough to have a coherent explanation when the annual debate began anew. You would be wrong.
The Village response was provided by the Mayor, who took the position that: (1) the US Code section is not enforceable (true), (2) the American flag is being flown from the “principal pole” in back of the building, and (3) the tall flagpole at the entrance to the building is for “other commemorative flags” which are specified as “Pride, Juneteenth, Tree City, etc.”
To be diplomatic, the official village position is clever to the point of insulting. The flag at the War Memorial is there to honor four Croton residents who gave their lives in service of their country. It is flown with the POW/MIA flag to remember those whose families cannot even put them in a final resting place.
Look, I get it. The Board of Trustees has decided that the Pride flag must be flown solo for the month of June. Rather than deal with complaints about their decision, the trustees decided to designate the flagpole in front of the Muni Building as the “other commemorative flags” pole. That is a municipal policy decision which the Board of Trustees is authorized to make. But be honest and have the courage of your convictions.
Until two weeks ago nobody in Croton knew we had a “commemorative flags” pole. The only commemorative flags that have ever flown from that mast are the Pride flag (solo) and the Tree City flag (which used to fly below the American flag). The Juneteenth banner has never been an issue because it hangs from a yardarm close to the ground—not the mast— and as such is not above the American flag.
I am probably in the minority view on this, but I would not be bothered if the Board of Trustees simply said that Croton will not fly the American flag. The strong emotions stirred by the flag have not always been present in US history. Even the White House did not have a flagpole until June 1861. That pole was dedicated by Abraham Lincoln two months after the fall of Ft. Sumter. Surging immigration at the beginning of the twentieth century led to the first proposed flag code in 1923 as part of efforts to build national unity, but it took World War II to finally get it passed into law. The 1989 Supreme Court decision that flag-burning is free speech was a 5-4 decision where two Ronald Reagan appointees (Scalia and Kennedy) sided with the flag-burner.
There is historical basis for Croton’s trustees to decline to fly the American flag in front of the Muni Building. My objection is to the wussy vacillation and in particular to the use of the war memorial flag as cover.
On a side note, those looking to last year’s Supreme Court Shurtleff decision against the City of Boston are incorrect: that case involved a municipality offering to fly flags from the City Hall flagpole for private groups. Since the decision on flying the Pride flag at the Muni Building is being made by the Croton government, Shurtleff does not apply. A better example would be Hamtramck, Michigan. While Croton flew the Pride flag solo on the Muni Building flagpole, their counterparts in Hamtramck went the other way and banned Pride flags from municipal flagpoles. The legal basis is the same even though the outcomes are opposite, and both Hamtramck and Croton should be on solid footing in the event of litigation.
I don’t think that being welcoming and inclusive necessitates not flying the American flag in front of the Muni Building. In fact the manner in which the trustees have handled the complaints of residents have been the opposite of welcoming and inclusive. And I have to give our trustees credit for keeping the traditional Pride flag, which is welcoming and inclusive in contrast to the “Progress Pride” flag fad of 2022 or this year’s “Intersex Progress Pride” flag favored by the US Army.
On a more crass note, I see that once again the image of Croton has taken a hit in the media. If for no other reason than our property values, the Croton Board of Trustees should at least pretend to take contrary viewpoints into consideration.
Politicians can’t keep everybody happy, especially on an issue which has so much cultural freight below the surface arguments over flag codes and municipal policy. I don’t agree with everything said by the folks criticizing the Mayor and trustees, and some of those critics could benefit from a bit of tolerance and empathy. But I also understand the legitimate reasons to be upset with both the Croton flag policy and the manner in which it has been released publicly. That upset is particularly understandable insofar as the Croton policy has touched on the veterans in our community.
This is not simply a Croton issue. On a national level, the Pride flag has become an annual source of discord, and that is likely to get worse in a Presidential election year. The Board of Trustees has 11 months to come up with a better media response than they managed this year.
--Paul Steinberg, Croton-on-Hudson
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