It's Just a Hand Gesture... Right, Erik?

 Let's talk about that photograph of Longview Mayor Erik Halvorson making the OK hand gesture.



Before somebody starts clutching their pearls and screaming that I'm calling Erik Halvorson a white supremacist, let's get something straight. I'm not saying the photograph proves that. It doesn't. The OK gesture has been around forever and has plenty of innocent uses. It has also been appropriated by white supremacists and has become associated with that movement in certain contexts. That's a documented fact.



When an elected official makes that gesture in a photograph, people are going to notice. That's not me being dramatic. That's what happens when you hold public office. Erik isn't some random guy standing around making hand gestures. He's the Mayor of Longview, a position he currently holds through the end of 2027. That matters.

The mayor's position is nonpartisan. That doesn't mean Erik isn't allowed to have political beliefs. Of course he's allowed to have political beliefs. He's a human being, despite some of the evidence presented on Facebook. What it does mean is that I expect the person representing the entire city to have enough judgment to understand how certain things are going to look, especially when those things have political or ideological associations.

If Erik was simply making an innocent OK gesture, fine. If that's all it was, then that's what it was. The photograph doesn't give us a magical window into his brain, and I'm not going to pretend it does. What it does give us is a photograph of the mayor of Longview making a gesture that has been appropriated as a symbol by white supremacists. That's worth questioning. Period.

Then we have Erik's known political alignment with the Republican Party. Let me be very clear about something else because apparently everything has to be explained in crayons these days: being a Republican does not make someone a white supremacist. Those are two completely different things. I'm not accusing every Republican of being a white supremacist, and I'm not saying Erik's political affiliation proves anything about what he believes regarding race.

What I'm saying is that when you combine a public official's political identity with a photograph of him making a gesture that has a documented association with white supremacist groups, I'm going to notice. I'm going to question it. I don't think that's unreasonable.

In fact, I think it's exactly what people should do when elected officials put questionable things out into the public. The answer doesn't have to be, "He's definitely a white supremacist." It can simply be, "Why are you doing that?"

That's a perfectly legitimate question, especially when you're the mayor.

You don't get to hold public office and then decide that people aren't allowed to examine your public behavior. People are going to look at the photographs, what you post, who you associate with, your political affiliations, the things you say and the things you do.

That's called public scrutiny. It comes with the job.

Personally, I think the mayor of Longview should be held to a higher standard than some random person screwing around on Facebook. Maybe that's just me. Maybe I'm asking too much. Maybe expecting the mayor of a nonpartisan city position to think twice before making a gesture associated with a white supremacist movement is simply outrageous in 2026.

Personally, I don't think it is.

I think it's called judgment.

When you're the mayor, judgment matters. So does lack of judgment. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why is a Florida Realtor so invested in the political battles of Longview, Washington?

Image
When people move across the country, they usually leave local politics behind. They find a new job, become involved in their new community, and gradually lose touch with the day-to-day issues of the place they left. Bill Josh appears to be the exception. Public records and Bill's own social media activity paint a clear picture of someone who has built a life in Florida. He holds an active Florida real estate license, works as a Realtor there, has discussed finding doctors in Central Florida because it's where he lives, and his wife has publicly acknowledged that they moved to Florida years ago. Friends regularly wish him happy birthday while referencing his life there. By every indication, Florida is home. Despite that, Bill remains deeply immersed in the political battles of Longview and Cowlitz County, Washington. His Facebook activity reads less like someone who moved away years ago and more like someone attending every city council meeting from the front row. He comment...
Read more

When Religion Becomes the Shield: What Is Really Going On in Southwest Washington?

Image
 There comes a point when you have to stop looking at individual pieces of a puzzle and start asking why the hell they fit together so well. A Christian church. A Christian dance studio serving more than 200 children. A pastor involved in political activism. A worship leader who owns that dance studio. Local elected officials appearing at a church-hosted program about Christian participation in government. A Kelso councilmember attending Battle Ground City Council meetings while that community is increasingly being scrutinized for growing Christian political influence. Then there is Fresh Attitude Dance Studio's own contract, sitting there in black and white, stating that its gender-specific costume policies are based on a "traditional biblical worldview, including a biblical definition of male and female." Students are expected to dress according to their birth sex when costumes are gender-specific, and the studio says students will be addressed using their birth prono...
Read more

When a State Representative Becomes the Bully: Joel McEntire's Obsession With One Local Woman

Image
 One of the first things you learn when you run for public office is that people are going to criticize you. It comes with the job. If your skin is so thin that you can't handle criticism from a constituent, you have no business serving in elected office. Apparently, nobody explained that to Representative Joel McEntire. For months now, Joel has made one private citizen his personal obsession. This isn't about policy disagreements anymore. This isn't about healthy political debate. This is about a sitting Washington State Representative using his public platform to stalk, harass, mock, and publicly humiliate someone who doesn't hold public office. That's not leadership. It's embarrassing. The screenshots speak for themselves. Joel has repeatedly commented on Britney Brown's posts, shared photos of her, talked about her marriage, claimed she uses drugs, called her mentally ill, publicly identified where she works, and inserted himself into conversations that ...
Read more