On Friday, August 12, 2017, white nationalists marched through Charlottesville, VA, carrying torches, Confederate flags, and swastikas, and shouting things like “white lives matter”. Advocates of the Black Lives Matter group staged a peaceful counter-protest the next day. But things went wrong for this counter-protest when someone from the white nationalist group drove a car into the crowd of protesters, killing one and injuring several others.
The backlash on social media was swift. Everyone was quick to condemn these actions, to speak out against white supremacism and hate. President Obama tweeted a Nelson Mandela quote. Late night hosts gave speeches at the beginning of their shows. Prominent politicians from all parties spoke out against these people. It was impossible to scroll through Twitter or Facebook without seeing at least ten posts about Charlottesville.
But it took our dear president three days to condemn the actions of these white supremacists, who can only be described as neo-Nazis. It took him three days to speak out against neo-Nazis.
Think about that for a moment. If I asked you, “were the Nazis good people?”, you would instantly say, “of course not, they were horrible people”. You wouldn’t even have to think about that.
And yet, for some reason, it took Donald Trump three days to say that the Nazis were bad people. It took him three days to say that he didn’t agree with their actions. And still he claims that there is blame on “many sides”.
And why is that? He says that the counter-protesters, the people that were against racism and Nazism, didn’t have a permit to protest, and the neo-Nazis did. But the First Amendment gives Americans the right to peaceably assemble, permit or no permit. The counter-protesters were doing just that, and so they had every right to be there. They put their lives on the line, and one woman even died, to stand up to this racist hate group. But sure, Mr. President, there was blame on both sides.
Blame aside, I think we can all agree that what happened in Charlottesville was horrible. But I think what’s most horrible, and what’s most infuriating, about this whole incident is the mere fact that it happened. We literally fought a war to stop the Nazis, and yet they still exist. We’ve worked so hard to eliminate racism, and yet it still exists. It’s frustrating because it feels like no matter how hard we try, no matter what we do, we can’t eliminate this institutional racism. It feels like we can’t stop KKK members or Nazis from marching through the streets carrying torches. It feels like we can’t stop any sort of oppression, against black people, against women, against members of the LGBTQ+ community, against Muslims, or against any other marginalized group.
But it can be eliminated. Believe it or not, we can stop these hate crimes from happening. But marginalized groups can’t do it alone. As much as they try, they can’t eliminate institutional hatred by themselves.
Who can eliminate it? People with privilege. Change starts with the oppressed, but occurs only when the oppressors change their attitudes. We can’t end sexism until all men change their attitudes about women. We can’t end homophobia until all straight people change their attitudes about LGBTQ+ people. We can’t end racism until all white people stop believing that they are superior to black people just because they have lighter skin. 99% of people could be on the side of the oppressed, but if even 1 person supports discrimination or hatred, then events like Charlottesville will continue to happen.
So it’s time to change people’s minds. If you’re part of the majority, fight for your friends in minority groups.The onus is on you, because if you’re silent, that puts you on the side of the oppressors. But don’t fight just to get laws changed. Fight to change the way we perceive our fellow Americans. Fight to eliminate stereotypes and prejudices. Fight to make this the America we believe it can be.
Like Benjamin Franklin once said, “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” So be outraged at these injustices. Make everyone else outraged at these injustices. Only then can we hope to end them.
