There is a fine line between freedom of speech and speaking freely. Especially in this day and age when there are so many diverse groups of individuals that have their own firmly held beliefs; the idea that every rally and every march must be done peacefully is essential to understand. Now, this article is being written on Saturday, August 12, on this day one person was killed and dozens were injured during a white nationalist march held in Charlottesville, VA.

Now the disturbing part of the March is not only that loss of life occurred but also that in this day and age such a march is even possible given the ramifications of the location it was held and the amount of tension surrounding this march for months. Many judges had ruled whether or not the March was even a possibility and even until last night it was determined that the march was to be hindered in certain ways to prevent possible violence.

But the reality now sits in front of us, a state of emergency was declared in Virginia. Typically states of emergency are utilized for weather emergencies and now suddenly we have to declare a state of emergency for supremacist marches that have gone awry.

Now while there are many that say what happened today was just "democracy in action" or the result of months of impending threats alongside the knowledge that such an occurrence might happen, the bottom line is that what occurred today is in no way a proper reflection of the way democracy can ever possibly be portrayed in the world from the US. What happened today was an unfortunate display of what can happen when ill intentions come alongside simmering tensions.