City News

On Sunday, April 4, 2021, the City of Huntington Beach received several reports that fliers promoting the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) were distributed to a limited number of homes in the downtown area.

 The KKK fliers were a cowardly attempt to drum up support for a hateful cause that is in direct contradiction to Huntington Beach’s values of integrity, respect and inclusivity.  We have zero tolerance for racism in our City, and while we absolutely support the First Amendment, we stand strongly against hiding behind it to promote hate.  And our residents stand with us.  They have sent me countless emails expressing anger over these fliers and rallies, which demonstrate that there’s no place for hate in Huntington Beach.

We are a diverse and dynamic community of 200,000 residents.  We’re not perfect, but we’ve been working very hard to tackle the difficult issues of racism and bias, which affect all communities.  During our April 5, 2021 City Council Meeting, we’ll hopefully take decisive action against these concerns by denouncing hate crimes (particularly among the Asian and Pacific Islander community), denouncing white supremacy movements, and calling for two community events that will celebrate and promote diversity. 

We’re one of the only cities in Orange County with its own Human Relations Task Force, which hosts countless events to facilitate dialogue and greater understanding.  We also have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion webpage (www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/dei) listing City policies and resources about these important topics.  Contrary to what you might hear, Huntington Beach is having these hard conversations and becoming a leader in combatting racism.

-- Kim Carr, Mayor of Huntington Beach