Much like a scene from the famous 90s movie, A Time To Kill, the small city of Charlottesville, VA was bum barred this past weekend with torches and angry, pale faces crowding the streets to rally at the University of Virginia to “Unite the Right.” But unlike the movie, this real-life tragedy committed by Alt-Right members and white supremacists proudly bared their disdain for people of color without the restriction of hoods.
Last Saturday (Aug 12), Charlottesville turned back their clocks to a time when the Ku Klux Klan freely roamed the streets terrorizing people of color. But the “Unite The Right” movement was met with resistance as counter-protesters assembled to dismantle their racist and hate-filled agenda. When the two groups collided, violence erupted.
Ultimately, Charlottesville was declared a state of emergency. There were several fights that resulted in protesters being severely injured and one killed. Thirty-two-year-old Heather Heyer and several others were rundown by a car while participating in counter-protests.
Another counter-protester was attacked by a group of white supremacists. According to Vibe, Deandre Harris suffered a concussion, an ulnar fracture, a laceration to his eyebrow, a chipped tooth, and bruises to his knees and elbows. Although Harris was severely injured, he does not regret protesting.
“It was a good experience to go out there and see the real hatred and racism that exist out here,” he said. “People say they know racism, but you don’t know racism until you look a KKK member’s hatred in the eye,” Harris said while back home resting. He also plans to take legal action against the city of Charlottesville.
Fight broke out. Nazis beat black kid w/sticks at end. I kick one in back 2 help & he runs after me. Kid is safe but bloody #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/kr11a8zQ0K
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) August 12, 2017
In the mist of all the chaos, President Trump did not initially handle the terror incidents as he should. Heyer’s death especially should have been considered an act of terror regardless of the driver’s race. Many feel that if the driver was a Muslim, he would not have hesitated to call it a terrorist attack. He also would not speak harshly against the KKK and White Supremacists, who killed her. Until his most recent press conference, Trump would not condemn the hatred that was spewed in Charlottesville. Bernie Sanders is one of the many speaking out against the President’s nonchalant attitude towards the riots and the messages he is portraying.
The message President Trump sent out to racists and Neo-Nazis all over the country this past weekend is this is okay. pic.twitter.com/k7o161yzuU
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 14, 2017
With threats of more riots and violence towards democracy being issued, the country is being brought to the brink of another Civil War and a greater division if not resolved immediately. How many more innocent lives must be compromised in order for this “Great” country to stay progressing instead if regressing back into the primitive era of ignorance and bigotry?
