Thanks for the post! I live in Charlottesville and have more knowledge about the events here than most.
First, the protests have been ongoing and back and forth for months. The latest protest is just the only one that made major news. Fascists, actual Nazi supporters who openly identified themselves as such, have been coming in from out of the area to protest the removal of Robert E. Lee's statue.
Actual, self-identifying KKK members have been here too. They have had plenty of marches that were allowed to go forward without incident. Each protest that was allowed escalated to a worse one.
At first they arrived in suits and well dressed. Now they come in full combat gear. At first only local police were present. Now the Virginia State Police come as well. Things have escalated greatly.
During that time, the opposition, the "antifa" as the propagandists like to call them, have been local people mostly. They are not all communists. They are not the paid protestors of Soros either. They are my neighbors. Some are my friends.
Heck, the woman ran over worked at a company I interviewed at once, WillowTree. She's certainly not a communist, nor black masked "anarchist" paid for by Soros or some other group.
You can see in fact from the videos and pictures that the crowd the actual, self-proclaimed Nazi loving fascist, drove into was peaceful. They did not have weapons, and they were not in combat gear--unlike the other side.
I take serious offense to the idea that the people there protesting are all communists or some other statists. They are not. Most of them are locals who are fed up with the pathetic racists coming and making a bad name for our city.
Some people have tried to suggest that the so-called antifa are racists too. How is that possible? They are a mix of ethnic background locals who all love this city. In a past protest even, the local police got in trouble because they were holding Black Lives Matter signs. I suppose all of the cops here are racists too? No, they are not.
To protest against, fight against, and be outraged by genuine fascist racists, is a good thing. This country went to war to fight such people. My grandfather Lowell Cornelison died fighting them in fact.
Today though, they ruin the city I love, burn torches and chant "blood and soil," and drive cars into peaceful people. What the hell happened to America?!
Here's the thing: there's a strong strain of anti-whiteness on the left, and there has been for years. That threatens some and drives them into the arms of the "alt-right".
Talking about "systematic oppression", what about affirmative action? That's the only systematic oppression I see.
The left started a racial coalition politics that excludes whites. As long as this continues, I'll vote against them every time, even if that means voting for Trump. Mutually assured destruction.
I abhor racism and racial identitarianism and I challenge it everywhere I see it on the right. You must do the same, and this includes all identity politics.
Stop celebrating people for their genetic makeup. No more black or women pride stuff, because it all reinforces our differences. And it's such a pathetic source of identity, it shouldn't be enabled.
When I was growing up, the prevailing attitude was to move toward color-blindness. Now it's the opposite. That's the problem.
Agreed and I strongly suspect the people of Charlottesville would agree too. As I've stated already, this city is very diverse. We do not look at people as separate for any reason. Everyone should be equal under the law, and the law should be fair without double standards or special protections for some over others. All the people coming in from out of town to protest are giving the city a bad reputation.
@finnian Thanks for saying this. Both sides are not the same, and although the media does promote fear, this is real shit that people have to deal with daily and I appreciate your support. I,m from RVA, and they said they're coming here next.
It's really annoying to see all this nonsense being spread around about cville. The people spreading it are not even from our area. They have no damned idea what is going on. Heck, these protests in cville have been going on for months now. Just this last one made the news though.
Racist open fascists are coming to cville to cause trouble. The people of cville are very diverse and do not want the outsiders coming here to cause trouble either. I guess cville just has to suck it up and let a bunch of outside assholes ruin our city's reputation. /sarc Isn't it sad how many people are making excuses for the racists too?
It's disgusting.
Yes I only hate them because they hate me. The only reason I know they do is because they told me even though I didnt ask. So yea, if they come to RVA, it will be the same outcome. Cant let these people feel comfortable to go anywhere and terrorize innocent people. I play music in cville alot. My brother is from Cheswick. I like cville. Never had an issue.
The locals here are loving and peaceful people. It's a real shame that so many outsiders have come here to ruin things.
I can't believe I'm 45 years old in 2017 on this planet, and I still have to write a blog post about how pathetic it is for some humans to hate other humans simply because of the tint of their skin.
The KKK members don't even hide their faces anymore. That's how effed up this world, this country, has become these days. Worse, there are so many people making excuses for them and defending them.
Uhm, excuse me folks, but we went to war to fight Nazis. My grandfather shot them. He was killed by one. Why is it all of a sudden okay to have open Nazis, like the driver of that car, protesting in America? It should not be acceptable, and it never should be.
and yes that has been my cville experience. We play reggae music and the vibe is always nice. The Ante Room, Rapture, The Jefferson Theater. Tomtoberfest, Jefferson Vineyard, everywhere we've played there was awesome.
Please let me know the next time you guys are here. I'd love to come out to support you, enjoy your music, and shake your hand.
Will do.
I feel ya man. I turned the other cheek so many times, my neck broke.
Sorry buddy these are the principles America was built on.
It doesn't make it right. Too many people are easily being duped by this nonsense too to make it get even more violent. I'm against any racism from any side too, but I liked the fact that our local police "got in trouble" for holding BLM signs in a past protest. Sure, it could have just been a stunt, but I know our local police are not the Virginia State Police. I think you know what I mean in that regard.