Erin Brady |
Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America: land of the free and home of the brave. Yet still, in 2017, white supremacists gathered on the 12th of August to object to the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Why?
The statue represented a soldier who was part of one of the wealthiest slave-holding families in Virginia who then went on to fight in the South during the Civil War. Many cities across the United States of America have statues celebrating and commemorating high-profile figures from this era who supported and fought for the continuation of slavery.
A ‘Unite the Right’ rally was organised by the far right group, ‘Proud Boys’ who protested in favour of keeping the statue in place. The day before the march took place, marchers went to the University of Virginia shouting ‘white lives matter’ and ‘blood and soil’ amongst many other racially insensitive and outrageous statements. Many marchers were of a far-right leaning, and were clearly supportive of the Nazi ideology of the 1930s and 40s.
The ‘Unite the Right’ protest attracted a mostly peaceful counter-demonstration,, leading to disagreements, and eventually, violent riots. The counter protest came to a tragic climax when a car ploughed into the crowd, killing one and injuring several more. The driver was found and charged with second-degree murder following the incident.
What did Donald Trump have to say on the matter?
After several days of confusion from the White House, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, finally came out with a statement saying that,
“Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
However, the President has faced a major backlash as he claimed that ‘blame was on both sides’.
The former President of the United States, Barack Obama has tweeted about the events, stating:
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
The tweet has now been liked over three million times, which makes it the most liked tweet ever on the social media network.
Hopefully, the new President can take a leaf from his predecessor, so he can take control of his country and ensure things like racism and Charlottesville can stay in the past – allowing us to focus on maintaining a more peaceful future.
