By now, most of us have watched the horrors unfold on television and social media in light of the #Charlottesville riots and the alt-right campaign, ‘Unite the Right.’

Over the weekend, white nationalists, supremacists and neo-Nazis alike banded together at the University of Virginia campus and Emancipation Park (formally Lee Park), in response to the removal of a sculpture of Robert Edward Lee. Earlier this year, the city of Charlottesville ultimately decided to uproot the controversial landmark of the late, confederate general from its parks, after supporters failed to block the city’s decision to do so.

On Friday evening, a group of alt-right protestors known as ‘Unite the Right,’ rallied in front of the university’s Thomas Jefferson statue. Torches in tow, the angry mob was reported to have been shouting: “Jew will not replace us,” “End immigration, one race, one nation,” and other racially-divisive chants. On Saturday, counter-protestors, including everyone from VA residents to the esteemed Dr. Cornel West, came together in an attempt to promote peace in the city of Charlottesville.

Unsurprisingly, bigots of ‘Unite the Right’ clashed with the anti-hate campaign, with one alt-right member inciting a domestic terrorist attack by driving his car into a crowd of peaceful protestors. The crash resulted in the death of one (Heather Heyer) and 19 more injured. Since then, the result of the Charlottesville riots includes a death toll of three with dozens more injured.

Shortly after a state of emergency was declared in Virginia, president Donald Trump addressed the violence in Charlottesville, saying:

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence, on ‘many’ sides.”

Many?

After Trump’s underwhelming response to the riots and his refusal to mention white nationalists by name, everyone from US attorney Angela Rye to congresswoman Maxine Shaw took to social media to say, well, what the President wouldn’t:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXtwgU2BQF7/?hl=en&taken-by=angelarye

And last night, as California Senator Kamala Harris so eloquently trumped Donald’s “many sides” rhetoric with the following statement:

“…Charlottesville exemplifies an undeniable reality that lurks just beneath the surface in this nation we love. And as the country grappled with this tragedy, we were told that “many sides” should be condemned. Many sides.
I often advocate that we look at many sides of an issue, walk in someone else’s shoes, and identify and reject false choices. But there are not “many sides” to this.
“Many sides” is what kept children in this country at separate schools and adults at separate lunch counters for decades. “Many sides” is what turned a blind eye when Emmett Till was lynched and stood silent when marchers were beat in Selma for “disturbing the peace.” “Many sides” is what my parents and thousands of others fought against during the Civil Rights Movement. “Many sides” suggests that there is no right side or wrong side, that all are morally equal. But I reject that. It’s not hard to spot the wrong side here. They’re the ones with the torches and the swastikas…”

*slow clap*

Since the public backlash of Trump’s speech, the White House has has defended Trump’s statement. However, something tells us that they may need to take notes.

Many.

Angela Rye
Charlottesville
Donald Trump
dr. cornel west
Kamala Harris
maxine waters