learntoquestion ltq discussions

• First I think we clarify the opposing group in this debate. We would all agree that the "they" are the white supremacists. Some people might say liberal vs republican, or liberal vs conservative, however these are radicals we are dealing with. It is unfortunate that politics has become a breeding ground for smear tactics and lies that greatly separate the names of political parties from their true definitions. On both sides of the aisle there are moderates, and there are radicals. We must not allow ourselves to group a loud minority with an often disregarded majority seeking bi-partisanship and prosperity.
• This was happening in America at a time of great political upheaval in the South. At the time, countless monuments commemorated for high ranking officials of the Confederacy were being removed across the South. Among radical conservative, supremacists, and nationalists, such an act was abhorrent to all. When these Neo-Nazis gathered at the University of Virginia for the Unite the Right march, it was to protest the destruction of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army and abysmal human being. The immense violence that occurred in the ensuing days demonstrated that our racial and societal liberties were penetrable by uneducated, bigoted lunatics. We also learned the police and other agencies of law enforcement would act as bystanders to the ongoing horror in our country.
• The phenomenon that seems to be at work in Charlottesville is that bigotry and hypocrisy are allowed to spread like wildfire throughout our country without accountability. The government has failed in protecting us from domestic terrorists who seek to threaten social justice and social democracy. The protesters are motivated by hate, fear, and paranoia.
• I very well believe something like this, or worse than January 6 could happen again. There will always be hostile people in this world, however these supremacists are so much more than hostile. These are vile human beings driven by false pride and misinformation. It is becoming incredibly harder to stop the spread of lies and propaganda. Every day these groups become stronger. They will continue to grow stronger unless efforts are made to actively suppress them. I strongly believe these individuals are domestic terrorists, disqualified from being granted the basic rights and freedoms true democracy justly protects.

• Why? Why was this happening? And what did it portend for the future? (Yes, 2017 was a few years ago now but as you might imagine, it’s easy to draw a line from Charlottesville to what happened on January 6, 2021, and the ongoing polarization in this country.
• How would we describe the phenomenon that seems to be at work in Charlottesville? What’s motivating the different folks protesting there and why do they see the world as they do?
• Do you think something like this—or worse than January 6, 2021—could happen again?

The horrific organized protests marched in August of 2017 throughout Charlottesville brought back dismantled ideas of Hitler and reminded the immense population of white supremacists. The internet played a major role in the organization of these marches, but more broadly made spreading such ideas easily accessible. The connections made throughout the internet allowed racists and neo-nazis to find each other and come together as a group of violent and hateful people. The internet not only allows people to organize these disgraceful marches but allowed them to do it unsupervised although I do not think was majorly helpful. This is a disturbing fact thinking that these disgusting messages and plans are being sent online via Twitter, Reddit, Discord, etc, meaning they are shared publicly along with records of these messages being saved some sort of authorities would take action but it is sadly quite the opposite. Even when police are facing white supremacy marches in person it has been proved again and again through the marches in Charlottesville and on January 6, 2021, that the police and authorities couldn't care less for our citizens. I know that the success of the marches in Charlottesville lead to the increase in supporters as these racists saw a group they could be a part of and also that their ideas are supported by others.

The hate groups being spread majorly online have allowed people to become more comfortable about speaking their ideas even if disgusting, uncovering the corruptness of humankind. With these extremist ideas being so persistent the chance of some sort of march such as in Charlottesville is most definitely possible as the strength within the sole numbers of these white supremacists and neo-nazis has induced fear into the public with rising support of these sickening riots.

I think it's important to put this into context, because although 2017 doesn't seem that long ago, this was over five years ago and the political climate has drastically changed since then. Donald Trump had only been president for about half a year, but with somebody with those views on race in power it's not surprising that people like this were beginning to feel empowered enough to try to organize themselves. I think the worst omen of all for the future wasn't that the Unite the Right rally took place, it was the fact that the president of the United States repeatedly refused to condemn one side of the protests more than the other, pretending like it was a case of "both sides are equally bad". This makes it seem like white supremacy is just a standard political ideology that should be accepted into society for the purpose of maintaining discourse and freedom of speech, not a disproven and completely illogical way of viewing the world. I think, given this, it's no surprise that there has been a rise in Neo-Nazi violence since 2017.

I think the events of Charlottesville are, as has been said several times, the result of an "Us" vs "Them" mentality, but I feel like a lot of emphasis should be on the "Us" part of that. People enjoy being parts of things, they relish in the camaraderie of movements like this, even if they don't fully agree with all the values shared by those around them. The Unite the Right rally appealed to right wingers because it sounds alluring to meet other people who share your political beliefs. Sure, you think, they might have some beliefs that seem extreme, but they're welcoming me into their community with open arms, so what they think can't truly be that wrong, can it? Ultimately, this is what causes people to fall down the rabbit holes of white supremacy and Neo-Nazism, and fundamentally altering their worldview.

I wouldn't just say that something like this could happen again, I am nearly positive that something like this will happen again, maybe very soon, or maybe closer to the 2024 election, when political tensions are higher. We've seen the anger exhibited by these extremists continue to rise as time went on, and basically nothing is being done to stop it, so why should we expect it to just magically disappear into thin air? I don't know what's going to cause the next Charlottesville or January 6th, and I don't know what's going to happen as a result of it, but I feel confident that it will occur.

• The why question is such a hard question to answer because with situations like these there never are concrete answers in which everyone agrees upon. Yes technically the reason why these people did what they did for the reason of racial or ethnic cleansing but why? Why do they have as much hate in their hart to cause harm? As to why this is happening? I saw this becoming a problem for a while I knew it was a matter of time until it boils over. The United States, ironically enough, was due for a racial war. with a president like Donald Trump that fed into the fantasies of these people. Racial/ethnic tension has been building and rose fast and exponentially durning Trumps presidency. The Charlottesville incident foreshadowing the future of American society. White supremacy has always existed in America it just was not as widely seen confidently in public making it seem as if it didn't exist before 2017.
• I would say this is a mix of a lot of theories and phenomenons like toxic masculinity, the passing down of general misinformation and misinterpretation of certain groups and just ignorance. You can tell these people were taught by their parents to think the way they do and because the majority of them are of the male population it's especially hard for them to be more open minded which led me to the conclusion of toxic masculinity. Being wrong requires them to break down that form of dominance they think they have over others and since they have a very traditional way of thinking in terms of roles in society educating them in a way of their own comprehension is especially hard. The motivation for them is like I said not wanting to admit to the false narrative that they grew up believing.
• Yes something like this is bound to happen again but this time a lot worse with the increase of mistreatment of certain ethnic/racial groups and the lack of action being taken to combat it people will again take action into their own hands and be less forgiving as they were in 2020. As for the incident in January 6th 2021, considering the fact that these groups have gotten more vocal over the years it isn't impractical to assume that a similar incident will happen later on. It's only a matter of time.

1) This is happening because of social media making it easier for other people to connect to each other and form echo chambers. When a group of insecure and close-minded people come together using the same escape goat, things like Charlottesville can happen. On top of the media making it easier for people to form groups, the recent presidency of Donald Trump has allowed right-wing people and white supremacists to feel as though their actions are acceptable and right. With Trump not pinning the blame on them during the protest in Emancipation Park for hitting a group of people with their car, and even with his own terrible record of racist actions and sayings, it allows for people to become more bold in asserting their racist views.

2) People in Charlottesville clearly are very divided. One side has more racist, anti-semitic, anti-communist views, and the other side has views on wanting minority groups to gain more rights, liberty, and acceptance. The people on the more racist side of things seem to be afraid of getting replaced by Jewish people/immigrants in general because of jobs and because others want to have an ethnic cleansing, which is of course just stupid. I think they see the world the way they do because they feel like their privileges are being taken away, and they're being threatened. Charlottesville is also in the South, which is where the Confederate flag was made and where slavery was especially bad before the Civil War. I remember learning about how Southerners felt very bitter about the Civil War and how they veneered their Confederate family members that died in the war, so it could also have to do with the propaganda that has been brought across generations of families that bring about the ideologies some people still have today.

3) I think something like January 6 2021 could happen again. Maybe not the same location, but the severity could be the same.

1. I think that the events of Charlottesville happened because of not just the rise of white supremacy and other prejudices in this country, but the lack of things that have been done to stop it. Hate aimed generally towards the non-white, non-Christian peoples has been around for hundreds of years. We’ve seen the atrocities that have surfaced surrounding this hate, and still there are people who agree with the motives behind them. They keep happening, and the people responsible continue to walk free withiut punishment. Due to their lack of punishment, they have no fear of consequences, and will surely continue with their goals. That being said, I feel that the amount people who support other groups is growing, and we’ve gotten better at speaking out against them not just at events, but in our daily life.

2. The phenomenon at Charlottesville is white supremacy. Racism has deep roots in the town of Charlottesville, and in August of 2017, people acted on it. People in the neighborhood gathered to counter the marches. Each group believes so strongly in their set of doctrines.

Fear also plays a very important role here. What drives the White supremacists is the fear of being replaced by minorities, non-christians, and other groups. The opposing side, which I tend to refer to as “our side,” because the people in my life agree with their message of equality, is driven by the fear of what the opposite side is willing to do to us

3. I definitely believe that something like this could happen again. This country’s government has hardly done anything to keep these groups in check. Some of our highest powers, such as Donald Trump, have almost encouraged it. They’ve placed no blame on violent protestors or dangerous groups, avoiding the subject for the most part as we learned in the first documentary. Without proper consequences, if we don’t shut it down, if we don’t educate ourselves atrocities such as Charlottesville and January 6th will continue to occur.

I think that it was honestly a group of ignorant white people who think their right marching into an innocent town to try to cause havoc. According to them, they are trying to get rid of the people who have come to take their jobs, take their homes and their land. They claim that they need to rid the country of people of color as if they didn’t technically bring them here. This was happening because since times of slavery white people have unfortunately always been seen as the better race or have more opportunities. Many historians have concluded that slavery gave way to this and other things because it heavily rooted certain areas with racism because said areas had historically favored the elite white people. For the future, events like this and more will lead to an overwhelming amount of people believing that their cause or racist belief is enough to hold a rally similar to this

Those protesting truly believe that they are right in their beliefs, thinking that they are superior. They believe that their violent ways are right. Their motivation lies in the fact that their government from the bystanding police to the implied support of the president. This alone can allow more rallies and violent protests to continue through the future

I think this is happening because of fear. White people have been in power since the very start of this country. In fact, it is what this country was built on, mainly the gross mistreatment of Native Americans and enslaved Africans. Though we like to praise this place for being equal and all that, it isn't. White people still hold power, systemically, interpersonally, and everything in between. It is true that as time has progressed so has our efforts to create a fair country, but with that comes pushback from people in power. They are only in power because they lowered everyone else, so when that "everyone else" starts to get back where they deserve (an an equal playing field), those in power will lose that power. With white people, they don't want to lose their position to people of color. I also want to point out that most of the people protesting were white men specifically, which is not at all surprising because men have more privilege than women. So, these privileged people are using their privilege to their advantage and being extremely violent as a display of that privilege. They want people to fear them as a method to maintain their power, which is from fear of losing it. I also think it has to do with the looming feeling that they will lose their power, so they might as well live it out now before its gone (which is still very wrong). As for the future, I think one good example of it's affect is the responses to the black lives matter movement blowing up in 2020. It was to empower black voices, to fight for fair treatment. But white people saw it as a threat to their privilege and came back with blue lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter, and then Trump became president. All because they couldn't handle their power being taken away. So, for the future, it will continue to happen as a response to our fight to equality.