I've seen some pictures of the demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia. I'm really not sure what is happening there, and there seems to be no source for good information available yet.
Here's a good example. There are pictures online of a few Nazi flags being carried at the protest. I cannot tell from the pictures who the morons are who are actually carrying a Nazi flag. No self-respecting American should ever associate him or herself with such a symbol of hatred and mass murder. The problem is that I'm not sure if these are protesters promoting a pro-Nazi viewpoint or counter-protesters claiming that the protesters are Nazis.
The weirdest thing about both the protesters and the counter-protesters is that they all seem like extremist nuts. That may be harsh, but again there is little coverage of what is actually happening which omits the hysteria of the extremists.
Simply put, there is nothing wrong with a group of people protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. Lee may have fought for the Confederacy, but he was undeniably a great general and an honorable man of his day. No one ought be condemned for living in a world where slavery was commonplace. We should celebrate those who moved us past that evil rather than condemn those who did not.
Nor is there anything wrong with a group of people launching a counter-protest to support the removal of the Lee statue. Their voices ought be heard as well.
The key, however, is that there should be no violence by anyone. We know two people were injured today, but we still do not know by whom or why this happened.
Probably the best thing would be if everyone just calmed down and tried to behave rationally.
Here's a good example. There are pictures online of a few Nazi flags being carried at the protest. I cannot tell from the pictures who the morons are who are actually carrying a Nazi flag. No self-respecting American should ever associate him or herself with such a symbol of hatred and mass murder. The problem is that I'm not sure if these are protesters promoting a pro-Nazi viewpoint or counter-protesters claiming that the protesters are Nazis.
The weirdest thing about both the protesters and the counter-protesters is that they all seem like extremist nuts. That may be harsh, but again there is little coverage of what is actually happening which omits the hysteria of the extremists.
Simply put, there is nothing wrong with a group of people protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. Lee may have fought for the Confederacy, but he was undeniably a great general and an honorable man of his day. No one ought be condemned for living in a world where slavery was commonplace. We should celebrate those who moved us past that evil rather than condemn those who did not.
Nor is there anything wrong with a group of people launching a counter-protest to support the removal of the Lee statue. Their voices ought be heard as well.
The key, however, is that there should be no violence by anyone. We know two people were injured today, but we still do not know by whom or why this happened.
Probably the best thing would be if everyone just calmed down and tried to behave rationally.
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