I strongly denounce and resist white supremacists and white supremacy culture that is pervasive in America. And I denounce and resist the use of violence that happened in Charlottesville to protest that belief system. I stand with the ACLU who argued the white supremacists should have the right to gather and speak their vile and detestable views as is protected in our constitution. If these haters held political power, I wouldn’t want them to prevent me from gathering with others publically to oppose their views.
That said, I am happy the white supremacists were met with fierce resistance to their views. I only wish they had been outnumbered 100 to 1 by peaceful protesters who opposed them civilly. The interfaith clergy who gathered modeled the kind of protest I would have been glad in which to participate. They modeled a way to meet hate with love. If I had gotten the call to come join them, I would have been there kneeling in the street together singing, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”
The problem with meeting hate with violence is it creates more violence. The man who drove his car into the crowd of protesters and killed the 32 year old woman and injured many others is a byproduct of such conflict. Violence stimulates very powerful emotions in the mind that cloud judgment. While the driver has full responsibility for his murderous actions, I am also guessing they are also a product of frustration that the rally in which he came to participate was canceled. I doubt whether he had planned such an action before Saturday.