BY: TANIA ROBIN
Staff Writer
In August of 2017, a violent white nationalist group marched through Charlottesville, Virginia.
The white nationalists and supremacists came to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, which the town decided by vote to have removed.
A woman’s life was taken that next day while she was marching with counter-protesters when a white nationalist drove his car into the crowd. Heather Hayer was the only fatality.
An innocent life was lost, and many others were injured because of the amount of hate that was being poured onto Charlottesville that weekend.
To me, it’s obvious this kind of hate kills.
In my mind, a violent protest never should have been allowed.
Dozens of white nationalists, Nazis and white supremacists had armed themselves with guns, rifles, batons, and bats for these rallies and marches.
This should have been enough for anyone to recognize that this group was not there to protest nonviolently.
The counter-protesters didn’t arm themselves because they had planned a peaceful, nonviolent protest.
The Charlottesville riots happened just over a year ago this month. Charlottesville is still in a state of turmoil in the aftershock of last year’s terrifying events.
Yes, some political figures stepped down in Charlottesville, including their chief of police. But the town is still mourning the racist atrocities that occurred. The town is working hard to turn its spirit around and create open dialogue to fight the racism in Charlottesville.
It’s my personal hope that our cities like Charlottesville and our country as a whole, will come together to stand up for each other and learn from each other. I hope we will embrace the differences in each other instead of focusing on the negatives, and learn from Charlottesville (and other similar situations that have erupted all over our country) to prevent them from happening again.
Everyone’s life is valuable. No one should lose their life because of discrimination.
I feel the “unitetheright” rally was so small this year because the white nationalists and supremacists were hesitant to rally or protest due to what happened last time, and the negative reputations they received from their violent rally.
This year, the counter-protesters in Charlottesville were at least three times larger, and outnumbered the opposition.
There were a number of other counter-protests around the country to stand in solidarity with Charlottesville. We can continue working toward safe communities, by listening, being respectful and mindful of others.
I am part of a multicultural family and proud of that. I take pride in my diversity every day because it’s rare and amazing that I have two Chinese sisters, a black sister, a Caucasian sister, and I am Incan Peruvian.
Our country is unique because we are part of many cultures existing together. Why not embrace this?
