Charlottesville: AAPI politicians condemn white terrorists and weak Trump response

Notice the armed militia meant to intimidate the counter protestors. Virginia is an open carry state.

MOST OF THE REACTIONS to the events of Charlottesville this weekend condemned the terrorists and expressed disappointment in Donald Trump's tepid response to the white nationalists, KKK, fascists, neo-Nazi's and the so-called alt-right.

(UPDATE, 11 a.m., Aug. 14) It took 48 hours, but this morning (Aug. 14), Donald Trump denounced neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan as criminals and thugs, bowing to mounting political pressure after initially saying "many sides" were to blame after a white-nationalist rally turned deadly in Virginia.

On her Facebook page Sunday evening, California Sen. Kamala Harris released a powerful indictment of the terrorists and the man they say they put on office on her Facebook page Sunday evening:

As we all now know, this weekend in Charlottesville, hundreds of white supremacists gathered with torches, shouting racial, ethnic and religious epithets about Black and Jewish people, chanting Nazi slurs, waving the Confederate flag and banners emblazoned with giant swastikas. A peaceful protester was murdered. Two brave police officers lost their lives.

To some Americans, this was shocking and scary. They asked themselves how could this happen - in the United States of America - in 2017?

To other Americans, what they know is, 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.

Let’s recall what led to the march in Charlottesville in the first place: the removal of Confederate statues, which celebrated men who fought for an America that kept human beings enslaved. That’s an America in which I’d never be allowed to vote, much less be elected a U.S. Senator.

The white supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville were there to protest so-called “attacks” on their self perceived racial superiority. That’s it – that’s their grievance.

Imagine how they’d feel if they were told they could not come into America because of their religion. Or that they could not serve in our military because of their gender identity. Or that their polling place was shut down as a part of a systematic effort to stop them from voting. Or could be separated without warning from their family or the country they call home. Or that they could lose their job because of who they love.

These are things happening right now in our country, too. And if we care about what happened yesterday in Charlottesville, we’ve got to care about everyday discrimination as well.

If we say this is not who we are, it’s on us to show that.

I feel a special responsibility, and I hope and expect my colleagues in the U.S. Senate do, too. It’s easy to tweet that hate has no place in America. But no legislator should be allowed to be horrified on a Saturday and then vote to drag America backward on a Monday. 

There is hope to be found. The truth is that the vast majority of Americans are good, fair and just and they want their country to reflect those ideals. And the fact that yesterday’s explicit hate was met with near-universal condemnation affirms my belief in our capacity to overcome evil. 

We don’t have to let extremists define us. Opportunities to do right are right in front of us. We just have to seize them.

The march by about 500 white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. turned violent in clashes with about 1000 counter-protestors. It turned deadly when one of the rally participants described by some as a neo-Nazi drove his car into into a crowd of anti-racism counter protesters, killing one person and injuring several others. Two law enforcement officers died when their helicopter crashed.

Other political leaders too to Twitter to express their feelings about Charlottesville.

"While many have expressed shock at the white nationalists who brought their full measure of hate and anger to the streets of Charlottesville, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, African Americans, Latinx, and LGBT communities are all too familiar with the true face of racism seen yesterday said a statement from Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a coalition of five legal advocacy groups.

"It is particularly appalling that President Trump chose not to condemn the white supremacy that was on full display yesterday and which led to at least one death. Such domestic terrorism must be condemned as such – ignoring it will only further divide our nation and lead to more violence," continued the statement.

"The events in Charlottesville exposed an ugly underbelly in America that communities of color face on a daily basis."

Asian Americans Advancing Justice called on Trump to call out the white nationalist, facist and racist groups that joined together for the rally and place the blame on these radical-right terrorists.
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