The Media Has It Wrong
Media coverage on the days following the tragic events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia was dominated by the same language. Statements along the lines of “The protests quickly turned to violence after a man rammed his car into a group of counter-protesters” were said again and again, but statements like these could not be further from the truth. When Nazis are chanting racial slurs, threatening counter protesters, and marching torch-in-hand there is never an affiliation with peace. If you are a white supremacist, you get in your car to drive to a protest with the intent to threaten, harm, or abuse a large portion of citizens, peace is not your intent. The protests at Charlottesville turned violent long before the car incident.
The sewage that is a white supremacist’s dogma can harm people in a way that violence can not. In my opinion, words are not nearly given enough credit. While freedom of speech is the foundation of this country, a blessing to which no previous country could compare, it also allows for speech that can harm others. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is one of the worst saying we have taught today’s youth.
A Nazi can only reach two feet with his punch yet he can reach millions with his words of hatred. When a journalist summarizes a catastrophe similar to the events on August 21st they can’t point to a time in which the protest was stripped of its peaceful nature. The “Unite the Right Rally” lost it’s original motives when plans were made to use the platform to unite White Supremacists and Nazis. Ever since the protest became a platform for people to share their words of contempt for other races and religions any glimpse of a legal assembly faded away.
¨Of course we’re capable, I carry a pistol, I go to the gym all the time. I’m trying to make myself more capable of violence,¨ said Christopher Cantwell, a well known White Supremacist. Mr. Cantwell used his large audience to promote the rally with words that suggested participants should prepare for violence. This means the Unite the Right Rally became a riot weeks before it was set to begin. One can not agree to peace whilst holding a pistol.
“TIKI® Brand could help anyone create paradise in their backyard,” the Tiki Brand said on their website. According to TIKI®, a well known brand that specializes in flame torches for decor purposes, their products are not meant to have any negative connotation.
White supremacists turned the faux Polynesian decor to promote their racist and bigoted ideals. The torch is shrouded in history, especially in the United States. Author Sarah Bond recently wrote an article for Forbes Magazine with the title “A Short History of Torches and Intimidation.” The piece analyzes the connotations that can come with the use of torches. “In the context of modern white supremacy, the torch also likely echoes the burning crosses and torches of the Klan,” said Bond in her article. Torches also serve as a threat of sorts. The hundreds of marchers have the power to burn property or people in a matter of seconds. I think it is safe to say that the white supremacists marching with torches were not doing so for light or safety; they were using them to intimidate the humans they despise.
