Violence Is the Problem Not the Solution
The Unite the Right rally that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017 was
held by the white supremacists. They were protesting the removal of Robert E.
Lee statue from Emancipation Park. Also, they aimed at promoting white
supremacy and nationalism (Segarra n.p). Robert
E. Lee was a civil war general and according to reports, his statue has been a
center of all manner of violence. Expectedly, this rally attracted counter- demonstrators
who supported the idea of demolishing the statue. To the white nationalists and
their supporters, this confederate statue represented family and its removal
would mean punishing their ancestors. On the contrary, counter-protestors
thought the statue promoted violence and racism. Consequently, the clashes
between the two groups resulted in three deaths and more than thirty injured
people. Thus, it raised different
opinions all over the country.
With everything that happened during this rally, it is obvious that many laws were not adhered to. For instance, the Charlottesville police declared the rally unlawful. Also, the white nationalists went against the court, since the case they had presented to court against the demolition of the statue had not yet been ruled. However, they attacked their counter-protestors and resisted the orders of the police to back up. Carrying banners and chanting anti-Semitic and racist slogans, they marched the park, giving little thought to the consequences of their actions. They should have, however, waited for the court ruling to decide on their other options. Their resorting to domestic terrorism was never going to be the solution. Additionally, a driver who is a white supremacist supporter rammed into counter-protestors and caused the death of one woman while injuring many others. Two state troopers also died in a plane crash during patrolling around the park, which led to many people concluding that there were hidden means involved (Ruiz and Mccallister n.p).
From the act, it can be argued that white supremacists were hindering democracy. With this regard, one can say they were doing this for their selfishness. They must have known that the court was going to rule against them. Thus, they took the matter into their course, as a result, breaking the law. Their lack of adherence to the orders of the police demonstrates their little respect for the rule of law. Evidently, they did not intend to have peaceful demonstrations, given that their banners and slogans proved provocative even to an outsider. In so doing, they made it clear that they were more American than everyone else who thought the statue should be removed, which is not the case. To them, rights and freedoms of their non-supporters did not matter. The act is in contrary to the law that gives every citizen equal rights and freedoms in America. Because of this outrageous behavior, it made the Charlottesville mayor, Michael Signer, to state that the white nationalists did not belong to America and were to leave for a more peaceful country. Mike Pence, the Vice President, also condemned this behavior as did the president, Donald Trump, and declared it intolerable in America (Merica n.p).
Merica, Dan. "Trump silent as
aides look to explain his vague Charlottesville statement." 12 December
2017. Web. 21 March 2017.
RUIZ, JOE and DOREEN MCCALLISTER. "Events Surrounding White Nationalist Rally In Virginia Turn Fatal." 12 August 2017. Web. 21 March 2018.
With everything that happened during this rally, it is obvious that many laws were not adhered to. For instance, the Charlottesville police declared the rally unlawful. Also, the white nationalists went against the court, since the case they had presented to court against the demolition of the statue had not yet been ruled. However, they attacked their counter-protestors and resisted the orders of the police to back up. Carrying banners and chanting anti-Semitic and racist slogans, they marched the park, giving little thought to the consequences of their actions. They should have, however, waited for the court ruling to decide on their other options. Their resorting to domestic terrorism was never going to be the solution. Additionally, a driver who is a white supremacist supporter rammed into counter-protestors and caused the death of one woman while injuring many others. Two state troopers also died in a plane crash during patrolling around the park, which led to many people concluding that there were hidden means involved (Ruiz and Mccallister n.p).
From the act, it can be argued that white supremacists were hindering democracy. With this regard, one can say they were doing this for their selfishness. They must have known that the court was going to rule against them. Thus, they took the matter into their course, as a result, breaking the law. Their lack of adherence to the orders of the police demonstrates their little respect for the rule of law. Evidently, they did not intend to have peaceful demonstrations, given that their banners and slogans proved provocative even to an outsider. In so doing, they made it clear that they were more American than everyone else who thought the statue should be removed, which is not the case. To them, rights and freedoms of their non-supporters did not matter. The act is in contrary to the law that gives every citizen equal rights and freedoms in America. Because of this outrageous behavior, it made the Charlottesville mayor, Michael Signer, to state that the white nationalists did not belong to America and were to leave for a more peaceful country. Mike Pence, the Vice President, also condemned this behavior as did the president, Donald Trump, and declared it intolerable in America (Merica n.p).
RUIZ, JOE and DOREEN MCCALLISTER. "Events Surrounding White Nationalist Rally In Virginia Turn Fatal." 12 August 2017. Web. 21 March 2018.
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ReplyDeleteInteresting discussion brewing here. I wonder if some background on how the statue came to be in Emancipation Park would add any sort of context to the protest and counterprotest? Is it at all interesting to anyone that a statue of Lee would be in "Emancipation Park"?
ReplyDeleteAlso, which part of the rally was deemed as unlawful? Finally, what do you mean by "hidden means"? Are you saying that some believe that the helicopter was sabotaged? What rule against them from the court are you referring to? I'm curious to see where you'll take this discussion!
Great article to read. I really like how you explained who Robert E. Lee is and where is statue is located at. Also, explaining the situation to what happened at the ralley. It's still very sad to see violence break due to removing a statue.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article. I enjoyed how you examined the motives of the two sides and what the political implications of the situation were. However, I do think you could work on your paragraphic organization and the progression of your argument. If you break up your paragraphs into smaller, more bite sized chunks that would probably help you to visualize how you would like the paper to progress a little easier. Also be careful about the introductory phrases you use. Some of them do not work where there are and hurt the content of the essay. finally, you really do not need that works cited and just for your information, the second two hyperlinks are not working.
ReplyDelete