What is there to say? How do words change history or past events? Words can give hope when used as a call to action, but words cannot undo incidents that have already taken place. I would like President Donald Trump to stand up today and speak about Charlottesville because the horrific events demand it. Racism and intolerance supersedes protocol. To have hate manifest itself so strongly on the streets of America was shocking and needs to be called out and stopped immediately.
The events in Charlottesville Saturday were shocking and, frankly, disgusting. Michael Signer, the mayor of Charlottesville Virginia, lays the blame for what happened “right at the doorstep of the White House.” Mind you, he is the one that issued the permit allowing the march in the first place. This is the Mayor that acquiesced and allowed these white supremacist, neo-Nazi racists into his city to gather and assemble in order to promote their intolerance and hatred.
The only request the Mayor and the City Manager made of Jason Kessler (who requested and received the permit) was to move the event from Emancipation Park to McIntire Park. The Unite The Right rally was planned to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee from Emancipation Park, and it immediately turned into violent disarray.
Violence was predicted ahead of the march, as more hate groups and then counter-protesters signalled they were on their way to Charlottesville. All I saw on television yesterday was violence and chaos, and little to no police intervention.
With time to prepare for this event since May 30th, when the permit was issued, it is hard to believe the local police, state police and national guard were seemingly caught unready for this mess. I did not see police stationed at critical gathering points, nor lining the streets. From newspaper reports it seems that law enforcement was put on duty in Charlottesville; but from what I saw it was woefully lacking and ineffective.
Could this have gone any other way? The rally certainly played out as expected; hatred and vitriol usually spark intense reactions, and we ended up with over 35 injuries and a fatality. One person plowed a car into a crowd of people, killing one and seriously injuring 19 more. How was a speeding car allowed near the inner circle of people? Where were the barricades and traffic control? I saw a car smash into a group of innocent people and a nauseating spray of bodies, but I didn’t see one cop or law enforcement officer at the scene.
The blame was swift and immediate and continues today, but is blame really going to bring us any closer to healing, or resolving the real issues of race relations in this country? Blame is just shifting the focus of what really matters.
Saturday President Trump condemned the violence in his spoken remarks; and the media is on fire because he did not mention white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK specifically. President Barack Obama tweeted out a Nelson Mandela quote but no one seems upset that he did not say enough on the topic. Yet, quibbling over statements seems to be a useless endeavour any way I look at it. Do we really need to hear the words to understand what happened yesterday? Are we really more concerned with what people say and less interested in the fate of the 35 people injured or killed? How far away from resolving this issue are we if we cannot agree on what matters most?
The Justice Department should investigate what happened here to ensure something like this never happens again. Either mandate stricter law enforcement for events like these, or, just simply get rid of them altogether. I’m in favor of banning these types of rallies and protests. Why have them? The Robert E Lee statue and other symbols of the Confederacy can be housed in a museum, out of the public eye and not on any city or federal property. Why continue to have reminders of a divided country – of a country torn apart by race – out in the open? These symbols and gatherings are just perpetuating a segregated ideology that has no place in the America of today.
First Amendment rights do not take precedence over innocent human lives. If anyone asks for permission to evoke a hateful ideology then deny that person. The First Amendment is a privilege instituted in our Constitution by our Founding Fathers “In order to form a more perfect Union.” The right of Assembly is a privilege given for “the right of the people to peaceably assemble.”
The protections afforded by the First Amendment need to be enforced by courts and branches of the executive to protect and keep safe human lives, to protect us, and to preserve the country of the United States of America. Separatists and racists do not move this country forward toward a more perfect union; they aim to divide us through hate. And they have no place in this country as we strive to put the past behind us and live in a united and unparallelled free society, the stalwart of liberty and justice for all.
