Charlottesville opens America's racial Pandora's Box

By Barrington M. Salmon -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Aug 30, 2017 - 10:20:43 AM

State of emergency declared in Charlottesville after protests turn violent. (R) Protesters clash with White Nationalists in Charlottesville, VA, Aug. 12.

Elva Mason, born and raised in Charlottesville, Va., is, like many of the residents there, trying to heal after an estimated 1,000 White nationalists, Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan types descended on the bucolic college town and wreaked havoc over an August weekend.

The extremists claimed to be there to protest the expected removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. They participated in a Friday night Tiki torch vigil Aug. 11, where they shouted racist and anti-Semitic slogans and fought some counter protestors. The following day, many armed with AR-15s, other assault weapons, pistols, and an assortment of weapons were met by counter protests comprised of clergy, students, activists and a coalition of anti-fascist elements.

Statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee

The deadly clashes left 34 people injured and Heather Heyer dead after a 20-year-old Neo-Nazi allegedly rammed his car, ISIS-style, into a crowd of counter protestors.

“The city has been very heavy with tension. There’s sadness, disbelief and anger,” said Ms. Mason, an entertainment attorney and advocate for fathers in child support and custody cases. “The community is in mourning for Heather and the people who were hurt. The sense of security that people had has been lost and they’re trying to get it back.”

A memorial service was held for Ms. Heyer Aug. 16 with President Donald Trump noticeably absent. Ms. Heyer’s mother said Aug.18 she missed the White House call but would not talk with Mr. Trump. The president made my daughter morally equivalent to those who killed her, said the grieving mother.

Blacks, in particular, were struck by the care with which Charlottesville and Virginia state police handled violent, threatening and confrontational extremists versus aggressive actions against nonviolent protestors at Standing Rock, Black Lives Matter activists and those in the Occupy Movement.

President Donald Trump

Some are arguing law enforcement in Charlottesville were either scared to do their jobs, complicit or exercising bias. Others like Ms. Mason say they were woefully unprepared.

Both human rights attorney Nicole Lee and activist and organizer Rosa Alicia Clemente were in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014 when young Blacks took to the streets to protest the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown and after Officer Darren Wilson was allowed to walk by a grand jury.

“I was on the ground in Ferguson three years ago. A group of young people had rocks and were met with police in paramilitary gear,” Ms. Clemente explained. “There have been protests where we couldn’t even stand still without police coming and pushing us. These White supremacists were allowed to function unfettered. Cops come out of the Neo-Nazi framework and the police state has always worked to uphold White supremacy. That’s how White men are treated by the police.”

Ms. Lee agreed.

“If hundreds of African Americans had surrounded a church like the White nationalists did, we would have been talking about a completely different situation,” she said. “I talked to attorneys in New York and they said police don’t absolutely have to protect life but they do have to protect property. Charlottesville shows that cops actually never have to use deadly violence.”

Ms. Mason also questioned the police response.

“When the rally was declared an unlawful assembly, everyone in town was postings feeds asking where were the police?” she said. “Police came out less equipped than some of the extremists who carried semi-automatic weapons and bulletproof vests. You couldn’t tell who was who.”

“It’s baloney that this was a peaceful rally. They came wanting to start something. People who are bullies know where to go. But they weren’t expecting that the community would rally.”

Trump gives ‘aid and comfort’ to violent racists?

The Economist, a British magazine, has on its most recent cover Mr. Trump holding a megaphone in the shape of a Klan hood.

Mr. Trump has been in the political crosshairs since extremists invaded the University of Virginia campus. In three different opportunities, Mr. Trump failed to step-up: From his tepid, controversial half-hearted “wrong on both sides” initial statement, to the obviously forced denouncing of extremists two days later, and his final failure to denounce the extremists and Neo-Nazis during an antagonistic back and forth with reporters Aug. 15 in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York.

Widespread condemnation of Mr. Trump’s embrace of the Klan and Neo-Nazis ignited a firestorm across the political, business and social spectrums with critics excoriating him for his lack of moral character, his overt racism and indefensible actions in support of a White nationalist agenda.

Connor Maxwell, a research assistant for the Center for American Progress’ Project 2050 team, said that what happened in Charlottesville is no surprise.

“The whole thing is tragic,” he said. “It’s not a surprise though because it’s always been here, just below the surface. They are coming out of the shadows. The violence and terrorism are alarming but there’s no indication that this will change. I’m disappointed in Trump. This was not a big ask. He has a role to protect us from terrorists. He whiffed. And he had another chance.”

“While the words sounded good, they were not sincere and they’re not consistent with the policies he’s pursued. His moral equivalency was wrong. There definitely is a vacuum of leadership.”

Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said what President Trump did at the press conference is qualitatively different from any of the other unsavory and illicit things he’s done since assuming office on Jan. 20 this year.

“The moral obtusity and psychological fragility on display at that disgraceful news conference was bone-chilling,” Mr. Schmidt said during a recent interview on MSNBC. “Republican leaders have to condemn the president for this false equivalency and directly by name or they have to censure him. If not, they risk sliding into a moral abyss with him.”

Police near Charlottesville city hall when Unite the Right organizer, Jason Kessler, gave a press conference, Aug. 13. Photos: MGN Online

The Economist, a British magazine, has on its most recent cover Mr. Trump holding a megaphone in the shape of a Klan hood. In an article entitled, “Donald Trump Has No Grasp of What It Means to be President,” the editors said: “Defenders of Donald Trump offer two arguments in his favour—that he’s a businessman that will curb the excesses of the state; and that he will help America stand tall again by demolishing the political correctness of left-leaning establishment elites. From the start, those arguments looked like wishful thinking after Mr. Trump’s press conference of Aug. 15, they lie in ruins.”

“We’re talking about an emboldening of the far-right and what we’re seeing play out now is a direct result of all the rhetoric Trump espoused even before he ran,” said the Rev. Derrick Harkins, senior vice president for Innovation in Public Programs at Union Theological Seminary in New York. “He has given the signal to Klansman that they will not have to worry about any violence they commit. People really shouldn’t be surprised. He is responsible for the toxic environment because of his language and his actions.”

Emboldened by Trump’s embrace, extremist groups have plans to replicate rallies and marches in an assortment of cities around the country and counter protestors are gearing up to block them.

Instead of becoming frantic and filled with rage, Rev. Harkins said, those who condemn Mr. Trump, oppose his presidency and are concerned about the fate and direction of this country must organize, mobilize and become active civic participants.

Rev. Harkins, who during the 2012 presidential campaign was named national director of Faith Outreach for the Democratic National Committee and advised the Obama administration on a number of faith-related issues, said concerned citizens have to figure out next steps.

“The Alt-Right and the Klan make it critical to organize,” he said. “I’ve been in meetings recently and discussions have centered on what are the granular things we need to do. There is a need for the development of strategy. Some of that organization has to be evident at the ballot box. We met about voting and we’re looking at voting for prosecutors, judges, whoever holds the legal system. We have to empower and engage people around these races.”

Ms. Clemente, an Afro-Latina political commentator, agrees with Rev. Harkins about the need to organize—but the New York resident who ran in 2008 as a vice-presidential candidate on the Green Party ticket—is adamant that Black people cannot expect anything of consequence from the current political system.

“I still believe wholeheartedly that the two-party system is the death knell for our people. The Democrats have not in any way helped improved materially the circumstances of Black people. The Democrats will do nothing for us,” she said. “Young people in the hoods and barrios aren’t f**king with the Democrats. A lot of young people are not seeing any reason to vote or support Democrats. I’ve been trying to understand their thinking.”

“We have to begin to train young people in a youth-to-movement effort. We have to increase political education, abolish mass incarceration and protect their physical and mental well-being,” she explained.

One sobering reality confronting activists and those opposed to White nationalists is how to properly and adequately counter the violence seen in Charlottesville. Ms. Lee pondered this during a recent interview, saying that activists and organizers have been grappling with how to march or counter-protest peacefully yet protect themselves from racists intent on causing them harm.

A gathering of White Nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photo: MGN Online

“We actually knew about this march and on July 8 the KKK and others had come to the city. There was a national call to clergy but there was always a feeling that this (security) was a concern,” said Ms. Lee, former president of TransAfrica and a partner of the Black Movement Law Project which offers legal infrastructure, training and support to communities dealing with police violence. “On Friday night, it was clear that whatever plan was in place wouldn’t be enough and wouldn’t provide safe passage,” she said.

“I lay this at the feet of people who voted for Trump. They are complicit and really bear responsibility for what’s going on. White supremacy harms everyone. It absolutely degrades society and the rule of law.”

“I really think that we have to create a broader coalition. We cannot give up,” she said. “The KKK isn’t backing down. People have to be prepared to have counter protests. People were allowed to bring flagpoles, shields and other weapons. That calls into question where is the line for free speech.”

“You cannot rationalize with people trying to kill you. There’s no morality in them,” said Ms. Clemente. “There has always been an American fascist underground, but you know, I don’t think it’s prudent to chase White supremacy. I’m a revolutionary radical organizer. I come from the Malcolm X school. I’m prepared to defend myself. I have studied martial arts and I’m trained in self-defense. I tell young people to prepare themselves too. We have to be ready to do anything to protect ourselves.”

The Final Call