It’s an issue that dogs us, left, right, and center. No matter which side of it you agree with, the “Black Lives Matter” banner hanging at City Hall has polarized many of us, and for some compromise is just not in the cards.

Last week, a gathering took place at City Hall organized by our local police union and attended by members of that body as well as the general public and the press.

Simultaneously, a group of BLM supporters held a peaceful demonstration of their own in Union Square.

Towards the end of the evening, paths crossed between participants from both events, allowing for constructive dialog to take place between some of them.

Whatever one’s feelings about the banner, the great takeaway from that evening is the fact that we can strongly disagree with one another and still maintain civility and order in the process.

With such a hot-button issue on the line, it’s comforting to know that we live in a community in which our best intentions and essential goodwill towards one another defuses the knee-jerk responses that can occur at such times.

This issue will eventually be resolved and pass on to the dustbin of history. Meantime, we can hold our heads high knowing that we handled it with class.