Many of us were struck by the beautiful photograph of Natalie, arms outstretched, extending a version of the American flag known as the “Thin Blue Line” flag several years before she became a Davis police officer.
Accompanying the photo, Natalie wrote, “I would like this photograph to serve as my gratitude for all those law enforcement men and women who have served, who are currently serving and those who have died in the line of duty protecting our liberties in this great country.”
For many of us, it was the first time we’d seen the Thin Blue Line flag.
The photo was not posted in anger or hatred or defiance or righteousness. It was posted with love and with pride. In it, she looks happy and joyful and free as a breeze, proud in the very best of ways. It is indeed one of the most striking and beautiful photographs I’ve seen in a long time.
Unfortunately, a group of students at UC Davis, known as the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission, didn’t want us to hold all those wonderful thoughts about Natalie.
Adding insult to tragedy, they attacked the photo as racist, seemingly because some white supremacists in Charlottesville decided to co-opt that flag as their own.
Associating Natalie with such a group is flat-out wrong and the ECAC knows it, but they simply couldn’t bear to see so much positive attention being showered on a member of the Davis Police Department.
Relations between law enforcement and groups who feel they are being unfairly targeted are a serious topic that deserves our constant concern and attention.
However, 22-year-old Natalie Corona, the pride of Arbuckle and a woman who desired to do good in this world, was precisely the kind of person members of the ECAC should be applauding. They chose instead to attack and attack hard. Their words served only to further the divide.
For now, our love and prayers and our very souls should be turned toward the Corona family, holding them all up as high as we can and thanking them for the gift of Natalie, who died trying to make our town a better place for all of us.
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