On August 12th, 2017, the Unite the Right rally, made up of white supremacists, white nationalists, neo-nazis, and militias, descended on the college town of Charlottesville, Virginia ostensibly to protest Confederate monuments that were being taken down or moved.
But these were not peaceful, respectful marches. No, this was a display of hatred and intimidation.
Before the end of the day one man ran his car into a crowd of peaceful counter-protesters, injuring 19 people and killing 32 year-old, Heather Heyer.
Another Unite the Right rally is set for tomorrow in Washington D.C. in front of the White House. Hopefully this one won’t end in tragedy as well. As I personally reflect upon the last year, I’m sad to say that nothing has changed as far as racism in America and is it all that surprising when we have a president who can’t bring himself to unequivocally condemn racism and bigotry of any kind. Even his so-called commemorative tweet today was pathetic. So, as I continue to watch this country’s struggle to find its soul, I found a quote that perfectly summed up my feelings.
It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.
Audre Lorde, feminist, poet, and civil rights activist.
1934-1992
It would be nice if one day we didn’t need to have memorials like this.
By Hook Or By Book 
Sadly true!! 😥
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
One year ago today … #HerNameIsHeather …
A persistent, undisturbed, consistently growing stain on the fabric of America!!
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Yes, this is sad. It’s a shame so many don’t want to talk about it. Not talking about it isn’t going to make it go away. reblogged.
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So true. Thank you for reblogging.
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You are welcome. Thank you for having the courage to post it.
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Well said!
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Thank you.
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It would really be nice if that were not necessary anymore. Can’t believe this is already a year ago that his happened. Hopefully todays march will be a peaceful one, and nothing bad will happen.
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Fingers crossed Michel.🤞🏻
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Sad. Can’t believe a year has passed so quickly.
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It does seem like it was just yesterday.
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As with so many incidents in America, I am always left wondering when the next one will happen. Hopefully, one day your country can heal its divisions, Kim.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I feel the same way Pete.
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Will keep my fingers crossed for today’s rally.
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That’s all we can do Fraggle.🤞🏻
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🤞🤞
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The media needs to quit spreading fake news, news outlets need not focus on story after story on the issues, on and on…….
Monuments need not be moved, it’s the history of America, not generation living today. They should remind all of us what we’ve all come thru to get here.
Most importantly we need a new President. 🙂
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While I don’t think the media is perfect, I’m not sure what fake news you’re referring to. As far as the monuments go, I have torn feelings myself. I acknowledge the historical significance of them but I can understand why the black communities who live near them are tired of having them in their faces everyday. I personally like the idea of Confederate museums. And yes, we absolutely need anew president.
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Their are many options for the monuments but to act like history never happened keeps the young from learning from the past. If you want to see fake news watch Fox News, Even White House reports are bad. Journalism or my idea, is gather the facts, tells the facts, follow up on facts, then let it die. Many reporters on Fox, which I think is the worst, get the first piece of information and their creating a story, pulling in experts to speculate what could happen, then expert to speculate of why the plane may have gone off radar. Fake news is all over Twitter. Sadly I believe little except from a handful of reporters.
Have a great day. 🙂
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I completely agree with you about ignoring the past. And also Fox “News”. I thought you might be referring to them but I wasn’t sure. Except for a few like Chris Wallace and Shep Smith, they’ve basically become Trump’s propaganda machine.
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I can’t even stand to hear his name of the news! I ask myself, what country did he piss off today, what did he do to hurt the American companies which hurts the American economy. I have little to no faith in most of our government today. I think at State level they need term limits to boot out the ones sleeping at the desk or not showing up. I am a firm believer if we fixed all the broken systems like Medicaid on the user and doctors who are benefitting we would find a huge amount of money. Today it’s forget fixing problems and cram our campaign promises on top of broken problem. I’m sure we could both go on. It’s a crazy time in history now and I can’t imagine how school books in years to come will depict. 🙂
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🙇🏻♀️
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I was going to have a blog-rant about 21st century “life” and noticed this grim anniversary coming up, but I think we would all be better off if I just stick to writing feelgood stuff. Besides, I thought u would mention this anyway.
If I didn’t have so many tech-problems, I would have reblogged this Post
Thank u, Kim
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I love everything you write Brad! I hope your tech issues clear up soon.
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Aww, thanks, Kim! Any suggestions of what you’d like to me to write?
Tech issues dealt with – now just got to summon the energy!
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A book review would be awesome!☺️
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Aha! Selecting the lucky contenders right now! 😉
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❤️ I hope this year is a better one.
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It hasn’t been great so far, but it was heartening to see that only about 20 white supremacists showed up in Washington yesterday for the rally. That said, they’re not going away. The good thing is that people are more willing to call them out publicly now.
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For reasons known only to god and Bob, I had stopped following this site. I don’t know why but that box had remained unchecked. Well I’m back and I’m glad to see you’re still holding it down!
I didn’t watch the marches this Sunday. I went out and did something enjoyable with my family. Its horribly ironic, that even the most innocuous activity (like going to the movies) is now considered an act of defiance by poc.
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No worries. Somehow I had unfollowed you as well. I’ve noticed since the new privacy act went into effect and you have to click the accept button every time you visit someone’s blog, the button, 9 times out of 10 is directly over the follow button. I’ve accidently unfollowed several bloggers because of this.
I’m glad you had such a lovely Sunday with your family. My husband and I went to a Civil War reenactment, which now that I think of it is ironic as well.
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Things were tense around here during the weekend—I’m only 70 miles from Charlottesville and have spent a lot of my life there—so I was happy to see it was all mostly a nonevent. The ugly side is still out there in force but how nice that the DC march was a bust!
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It was nice to see their rally fizzle.
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Catching up here…I’ve been occupied for the last week. It is so very sad that there are people who feel they have to resort to violence to express their views.
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No worries Michelle. I haven’t been feeling well so I’ve been absent as well.
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I do recall your posts about your trouble with migraines. I’m sorry about that. Not fun.
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Thanks Michelle.😚
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Reblogged this on Aspen Tree Book Reviews and commented:
Perfectly said by my friend Kim. I just want to add, racism is taught behavior and can be unlearned. It must be! For God’s sake, we all bleed the same blood.
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What a powerful photograph of the protester wearing a white shirt, so much hatred in one face, if you tinted it black and white he could just as easily be a member of The KKK in 1930’s deep south about to lynch a black man! Unfortunately nothing changes. 😦
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Exactly Andrew. It seems as though we’re repeating history.😞
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