Waiting for a White nationalist rally at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville Aug. 12 near the University of Virginia, counter-demonstrators, including Black Lives Matter, led by the activists and anti-fascist group [Antifa], confronted Alt-Right protesters near the Robert E. Lee memorial. White supremacists, led by former Rep David Duke (R-La.) and Alt-Right leader Richard Spencer, went to Emancipation Park to protest the removal of Confederate Civil War General Robert E. Lee statue. Antifa rained on the Alt-Rights parade, mixing it up with the white nationalist crowd. While few were seriously injured in the Emancipation Park melee, 20-year-old Ohio man James Fields Jr., with known Att-Right ties, rammed his Dodge Challenger into a crowd killing one, injuring at least 10, some still in critical condition at UV Medical Center.
When you consider the relative small size of the protests, it’s irresponsible to jump to conclusions about the influence of the Alt-Right or White Nationalist groups in American Society. Watching the events unfold from the Trump’s National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, 71-year-old President Donald Trump expressed his shock and sadness at the event. “We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” Trump tweeted, sparking outrage on both sides of the aisle. Because Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Bannon worked for Breitbart News, a favorite news site of the Alt-Right, Trump’s been labeled soft on White Nationalist groups. Trump followed up his remarks today with an unequivocal denunciation of White hate groups. President Trump “condemns all forms of violence, hatred and bigotry.”
Because many Alt-Right-leaning folks voted for Trump, the media wasn’t satisfied with Trump’s remarks. “Of Course,” the White House “condemns violence by white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazis and all extremist groups,” read an official White House statement. Trump received flack from his campaign for sparking interest in white nationalist groups to his candidacy. “I would recommend you [Trump] take a look in the mirror & remember it was White Americans who put you in the presidency,” tweeted Duke. Duke likes to dissemble the facts, blaming Trump for not standing up to White Nationalists’ racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic speech. Duke blasted Virginia Gov. Terry McCauliffe for denying his group’s Free Speech rights. “The violence is coming from Communists & Anarchists, not from Nationalists. It’s clear the Virginia governor supports these scum.”
If Duke’s backers weren’t spewing the most vile racist hate-speech, maybe the protests would have turned out differently. Duke acts like he’s in control of the worst elements of the Alt-Right crowd, prone toward blaming minorities for their failures to succeed in a society that protects persons-of-color from racism and hate speech. Organizers of “Unite the Right Rally,” which staged the protest over removal of the Robert E. Lee statue, vowed to continue to protest. “Absolutely we are going to have further demonstrations in Charolottesville because our constitutional rights are being denied,” said Jason Kessler, an organizer and white nationalist blogger. “There is no place for you here,” said McCauliffe. “There is no place for you in America,” mirroring the sentiments of left-leaning groups, criticizing Trump for not taking a harsher stand on White nationalist hate-groups.
Driving a national frenzy on 24/7 news shows, the Charolttesville protests were relatively tame until a post-teenage domestic terrorist rammed his car into a crowd. When you consider the size the Alt-Rights protests, estimated at around 200, it’s hardly groundswell movement. Congress needs to consider making hate-speech, including racial, ethnic or religious slurs, a crime, no longer protected by the First Amendment. “Calling people for their acts of evil—let’s do it today—white nationalist, white supremacist,” said Sen. Cory Gardner (D-Co.). “We will not stand for their hate,” referring to the vile hate-speech recorded at the scene. While there’s nothing wrong with banning hate-speech, there’s something very wrong with stopping peacefully protesting the removal of an historical monument.
Horrific as ugly protests and violence in Charlottesville, the media must get a grip that we’re not witnessing a national trend toward hate-groups and racial violence. Small protests over removing an historic monument don’t constitute a revival cross-burning and lynching. Hyping the incident in the 24/7 news cycle does no one a service, exaggerating the presence and impact of hate-groups. Left-wing groups must stop calling Trump a racist because Alt-Right groups voted for him Nov. 8, 2016. Racists like David Duke or Richard Spencer won’t admit their followers sometimes get out-of-hand, acting like drunken bikers, spewing the most vile hate-speech. Anti-Trump protesters can’t smash windows or set cars on fire, using racism as a pretext for violence. While there’s no place for hate-and-racism, there’s also no place to slash, burn and loot in the name of civil rights and liberties.
