On August 11th, 2017, Americans saw a very ugly side of themselves. One that we are ashamed to identify, so we choose to ignore— until events such as the white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia occur, and a woman dies. Suddenly, it becomes a surprising issue. Although the event happened around two months ago, I believe we start to lose sight of these issues as they come and go. We must remind ourselves of what happens in this country.
The Charlottesville neo-Nazis took it upon themselves to rally against the planned removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee, the confederacy’s top general. For some odd reason, there is a sense of pride for these people that is represented by said statue, so Unite the Right rally was planned and carried out. That day, America was shown a glimpse of true colorblindness and intentional racial bias that they never wanted to admit was evident before.
As the rally went on, protestors began to file in angrily and rightfully; thus began the clash of two sides. The never ending historical cycle of black vs. white. Protestors against the white supremacists were beaten and fought with. Nazis shouted racial slurs, told them they would kill them, and hit them with poles. The severity of it, however, was when one man took it as far as to run the protestors over, murdering 32-year-old paralegal and activist, Heather Heyer.
What doesn’t make this tragedy much better is the response of President Trump, who sided with the white supremacists. He never singled out, nor did he identify that the neo-Nazi and white supremacists who began the debacle. Instead, he claimed that ‘there was violence on both sides’ and that no one wanted to recognize this fact. In my opinion, he does not want to recognize his very intentional bias against POC. Trump, along with other rich white men, view race as a diminishable factor. He and his racist counterparts believe that to not see race makes you less racist. However, by denying the importance of race, you’re simply denying that implicit bias and discrimination exists. This denial of racism causes events such as Charlottesville to occur, and Americans suddenly act surprised; as if racism hasn’t existed since the birth of this nation.
It is no surprise, however, that our President is a Nazi sympathizer, when his entire campaign was built off of racism. Trump’s bias is clearly intentional. We hear him describing both sides as ‘thugs’, however, we know who he truly is referring to, especially after he speaks in terms of ‘we’ when discussing the white supremacist side as worthy of sympathy.
There was absolutely no reason for the event of Charlottesville to occur, but it did. There is no reason for white supremacists and neo-Nazis to exist in our country, but they do. They probably always will, when all we have ever seemed to do as time goes on is move backwards and silence the cries of people of color. Until we can learn to listen, there will never be change. Remember to be kind, and never forget.