There is room for compromise, understanding in Hazleton’s D.R. flag flap – Scranton Times-Tribune

The Columbus Day Association held its annual flag raising on Friday with Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti at City Hall in honor of Columbus Day and Italian Heritage Month. The association will hold its 114th annual banquet on Sunday at Fiorelli’s honoring West Scranton native Vincent Ross as Italian American man of the year. From left are James Colangelo, Leo Wentline, Cognetti, Mark McDade, Richard Belardi, Frank Morell, Michael Iacavazzi, and Charles Spano.

Special assistant to the mayor of Scranton Isiah Watson raises the Pan African flag at City Hall as Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti and Black Scranton Project founder Glynis Johns look on during a ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024.

Pittston Facilities Manager Ron Faraday raises the Lithuanian Flag during the ceremony for the 104th Anniversary of the Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence on Wednesday at the Pittston City Hall.

JAMIE PESOTINE/Staff Photographer An Irish flag is flown outside of Hazleton City Hall in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day.

CHRISTOPHER DOLAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A Ukrainian flag flies at Scranton City Hall on Wednesday.

TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE Christopher Smith and Amber Viola connect a flag to be flown outside City Hall as part of Scranton’s 2021 Pride Month observance. A writer says members of the LGBTQ+ community justifiably should celebrate Pride Month.

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The Columbus Day Association held its annual flag raising on Friday with Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti at City Hall in honor of Columbus Day and Italian Heritage Month. The association will hold its 114th annual banquet on Sunday at Fiorelli’s honoring West Scranton native Vincent Ross as Italian American man of the year. From left are James Colangelo, Leo Wentline, Cognetti, Mark McDade, Richard Belardi, Frank Morell, Michael Iacavazzi, and Charles Spano.

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In Hazleton, residents with roots in the Dominican Republic comprise no small cross-section of the city. According to the 2020 Census, more than half of the nearly 30,000 city residents were Hispanic or Latino. Amilcar Arroyo, president and editor at El Mensajero International, estimated  90 percent of that portion had Dominican roots. They deserve that the city not just recognize their past, but their current contributions to the city, with what is in actuality the common granting of a request to raise their flag beneath the American flag at City Hall.

There certainly is room for compromise on this issue; The D.R. flag is on display inside Hazleton’s City Hall, after all, and Cusat did say he’d take community members up on their invitation to join their independence day celebration if he could.

But officials in bigger cities and small towns throughout the area do need to separate political ideology from the reality that communities are different, that they are built by and from citizens of different backgrounds. Raising another nation’s flag is not an assault on the values of the American flag, a rebuke of our nation’s principles, or a sign that American culture is under attack.

To the contrary, it’s a reminder of America’s strength, of the freedom and opportunity it stands for to so many outside the nation’s borders. It’s a reminder, also, that Americans can understand and value that strength while showing compassion and awareness for other nations that aren’t as fortunate as ours.

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Publish date : 2025-02-27 04:51:00

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