Ok, I am admittedly late to posting this. I was not near computer/TV over the weekend, and only learned about Charlottesville Sunday when eating a late lunch on the way home... and admittedly it wasn't learning much. My first thought was "Thank the Gods we're not at war." War with North Korea was the biggest fear Friday afternoon, the last time I saw news. It wasn't until today that I got a chance to actually read about what happened and have time to write anything.
What happened in Charlottesville is horrific. White supremacy in any flavor is just wrong. Their speech is hate speech. Hate speech is not protected first amendment speech per Supreme Court rulings in the past. Speech and actions inciting violence, which the torches, shields, bats, etc that they carried, is not protected speech, it is incitement of violence. They were obviously out to make the news, hurt people, and make their "movement" better known.
The response from Trump was also highly predictable, and played right into their hands. There were various people within their "movement" that were hailing that he didn't disavow them. Why would he? It lines up with his ideology (you're good if you praise Trump), and some of his white supremacist staff (Bannon, Miller). It wasn't until he realized that nobody, not even Fox, was giving his statement good press, that he allowed someone else to write a speech for him, and dutifully read it. It wasn't sincere and it was to late.
The white supremacist beliefs need to be destroyed. It is not acceptable. We fought multiple wars over this kind of belief, and they have lost every time. We cannot allow this to rise again. We cannot allow it to continue. We have to do all we can to stop it. We need to make it known that they are the minority of the people in this country. We need to make sure their "protests" and "marches" are met with equal or larger.
If you are a white person and attending these marches, do what you can to protect those that are not white. Use your privilege to protect others. I saw one post earlier today to suggest you should dress like you are going to work, church, etc. If you're clergy, wear your stole and look professional. Stand between the minorities in the counter protest and the white supremacists so that it is more difficult for them to hurt the minorities that they want to hurt.... and if they do, the press they get will be even more horrible.
This have got to stop, and it will take all of us to stop it.
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