learntoquestion ltq discussions

The events that transpired in Charlottesville are a result of rising comfortability. There has been a spike in hate crimes and these heinous, hateful acts in America after (what I’ve observed to be) the election of President Trump. Because of Trump’s beliefs, his actions in office, and the behavior of the police force, the extreme right has felt comfortable voicing their opinions (and very loudly). In the video, we saw these people in Charlottesville protest without masking their identities. This, as well as the police’s lack of action really shows how comfortable these protestors were. They did not fear punishment because they knew that it would not come. They felt as though they were backed by the president and the police. This is a problem. Until more left-leaning politicians are established in the government and there is reform in our criminal justice system, I think that these right extremists will only get more comfortable.

In Charlottesville, what we saw was hatred. We saw white supremacists and antisemites try to normalize their beliefs and show their strength. They tried to display power by beating people and making them afraid. Through their physical displays of power and the police’s inability to act, they contributed to the rising right-wing hate in this country. The right-extremists view America as a white man’s world that different disenfranchised groups and the political left threaten. The leftists who were protesting view everybody as deserving of equal rights and equal life.

The white supremacists protested to show a united front to the public. They wanted to show the world that they were not just some presence online and that they had the capability of organizing something large. The protestors on the other side were protesting the right-wing protestors themselves and their hateful views. I do not know why white supremacists and antisemites view the world as they do. Maybe they were just raised that way (which is not an excuse) and feel very threatened by change. I know that the left views the world as a place where everyone should be equal. That is the world that I want to live in.

I do think that something like this could very well happen again. I think that if the police force keeps neglecting its duty to marginalized people, people will always feel comfortable harming these communities. Something worse than Charlottesville or January 6 could happen if America ever elects another president that extreme right-wing conservatives felt seen and supported by. If we ever have another Trump, this country will be unsalvageable.

• 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?

I think considering the violent hate crimes that happened and are still happenign to this day to asain americans since covid 19 hit and the on going fight for BLM and other movements proves that it absolutly can and probably will happen again.

• 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 events that occurred in Charlottesville is one of many, yet one of the biggest events of domestic extremism in the United States. People who were on the far right, those with very hateful views (anti-semitic, racism, homophobia, conspiracy theories, etc.), had begun to prove to the world that they were not a group of online personas. As sage_gorilla stated in their post, many extremists had their faces visible, displaying their ideals and hatred. The events of Charlottesville was a spark that slowly led up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, most likely a plan that was months in the making.

Regarding the politics in the country, I do not think there is much that can be done to establish more left politicians and influence. The country is slowly progressing, but the government is stuck in a time period where it’s seemingly the 1960s or 70s. The Republican party has had a long established history, with the party starting in the 1850s and their beliefs heavily based on traditional values. The amount of influence and power that the party has accumulated over time, as well as the average age of politicians being 60 years old (https://fiscalnote.com/blog/how-old-is-the-117th-congress), there is not much that can be done to even contest the party.

In the events of Charlotesville, the major group in play are white supremacists that gathered from all over the country. As I stated earlier, these supremacists are on the far right side and they wanted to display their power to the world. These people belonged to a group they made, a group that they labeled themselves as, a place where they can express their true selves without being criticized. However, these groups of venting and transparency transformed into reality, with the desire to enforce their viewpoints through action. As to why the white supremacists think the way they do, I believe a majority of it stems from religion, traditional ways of thinking, and the way the previous topics were taught to them by family and friends. Many white supremacists were Christians that were heavily anti semitic, wary that Jewish people would replace them. This sort of thinking traces all the way back to colonial times. The traditional ways of thinking present in the white supremacists can stem from the way society, religious groups, or cultural groups envision. Some examples would be expectations in gender roles (men or women only doing this or that) or sexuality (sexual orientation, sexual identity, etc). The last point to bring up is the way that these individuals were raised, which is not an excuse in any way. However, I do believe that enforcing specific ideas and seemingly “pounding” it into someone’s head can really change someone’s perspective. There is a large emphasis on antisemitism, racism, homophobia, and issues concerning the left wing. In this situation, I think that the white supremacists have formed their own world, their own truth. Their “truth” is different from the “truth” that many people see, which is history based on events. That is also where the “we” and “they” come into play. They had labels of being a Christian white man who wanted to “protect” their voices and opinions, while the other side, the protesters, had their own labels and agenda. In this world, there are multiple different perspectives and interpretations of a singular event that fully shape the outcome.

Considering the attack on January 6, I do think something worse will happen. If the attack was in response to Donald Trump’s defeat, with the goal to overthrow the United States Capitol, then there is also the possibility that white supremacists could organize an attack on all government buildings in D.C. I also believe that there is a possibility of multiple attacks happening simultaneously throughout the nation. If people from all over the nation were able to collect together and meet up in Charlottesville, then I do 100% believe that there can be a large communicated attack in response to another situation similar to the attack on January 6.

The events of Charlottesville were a collective effort by the white supremacist Neo-Nazi groups which have passed under the radar of mainstream society for a long time. They have grown more and more radical and have built up an audience while many were unaware. An initiator for the thrust of these groups into mainstream society was likely former president Trump’s ideas that he preached during his presidency, and the sort of dog-whistle terms that he used to signal support or at least complacency for these radical groups. Trump constantly maneuvered around the idea of denouncing white supremacy while also denouncing organizations like BLM and ANTIFA. He preached general statements of standing up and resisting to the direction America is going, “making america great again”, and from the perspective of the white supremacist organizations he was basically encouraging their acts of violence and terror in the name of “racial purity”. With the not-so-subtle support of the president, these white nationalist organizations at the event in Charlottesville felt they had a high degree of legitimacy for their goals. The events in Charlottesville and beyond also were likely invigorated by the complacency of the police and authority figures in general. By standing to the side and letting these violent acts happen, the police were basically signaling that they would permit events like this in the future. The violence in Charlottesville was a clear message that white supremacist and neo-nazi groups were gaining traction and would most certainly strike again, now that they had the U.S.’s attention and even the law wasn’t standing in their way. These events seemed to inspire more actions by similar radical groups in the future.

The white supremacist groups are so radicalized that they rationalize every strike against them and every event in general as the fault of POC, Jewish people, etc. Every event from their perspective seems to support their radical worldview, and this is clearly seen in the clip when the white supremacists explain their views, often blaming everything wrong in America on Jewish people. This is the result of radical white supremacist groups being isolated with their own view and not rationally discussing and debating it with others for so long that they create an echo chamber within their minds. This echo chamber constantly reinforces the generalizations they make because they don’t understand the perspectives of the people they are generalizing. The radicalized white supremacists cannot comprehend any world view other than theirs, and this is why it is so hard for groups like this, or any sort of radical group, to come to any understanding with the opposing side.

I think that as long as the U.S. continues its polarization and no one attempts to understand each other and their motives, these violent events will continue to happen and grow in severity. This is why education on this kind of content, and the Facing History course altogether, is so important. Without understanding the motives behind and initiation of the radical groups in this video, we cannot do much about them or prevent future destructive events. Trying to suppress and push these radical groups to the margins of society once again, countering hate with hate, and in turn reinforcing the white supremacists’ view of us vs them, will result in more violent conflicts. The main solution to increasing polarization in the U.S. is having civilized debates instead of all-out brawls. These radical groups must stop making generalizations as it impedes on all progress towards a more harmonious society.

• 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 riots in Charlottesville happened because of a rise in right-wing extremism in America. Although far right groups have always existed, the Unite the Right rally gave them the confidence to shows themselves and their supporters. These groups grow best when they are given a platform to spread their ideas which is something that, in my opinion, we must stop. As to why the fascists resorted to violence and eventually murder, I would guess that they were scared and intimidated by counter protests. Perhaps they wanted to demonstrate their ability to be violent or gain national notoriety and therefore fame. I would describe the phenomenon at Charlottesville as right-wing populism and fascism because of its "us vs them" rhetoric. At a basic level the right wingers are there to protest the taking down of a confederate statue and the counter-protests are for taking it down. However the motivations symbolize much more and overall themes in American politics. The right wingers are there to demonstrate their force which is a clear act of populism as they try to gain more popular support from America as they portray themselves as the "common man". Something like this can and will happen again. I does every year at CPAC Conventions, just without the casualities.

To start, I would like to pose a question. What would you do if an actively racist, neo-nazi, white supremesict was standing directly in front of you and a group of your friends. Now imagine if there was an entire group of them and you were already in a politically charged environment. How would you interact? Would it be amiable? Now, while that is a very easy question to answer, we still look at the riot in Charlottesville negatively. So now I would like to discuss why it happened the way it did.

First I want to bring up the fact that we tend to take the most extreme versions of a political strata and assume everyone in that group is that way. Every side throughout the history of politics has done this, because it's very easy to look at someone you disagree with and instantly assume the worst. However I don't think people are always as extreme as we make them out to be. That's why I think what happened in Charlottesville is even more tragic. Because of the violence that happened on this day, liberals tend to assume that republicans are more violent than they truly are, and the same goes vice versa. We look at the riots and say :"All Republicans are dressing up with skull masks and beating people up," when this school of thought only leads to further radicalization.

I think in order for us as Americans to reach a consensus, we must de-radicalized and reach a more moderate conclusion. While I will never compromise certain ideas, it is important to understand that it is impossible to get everything we want. So, when we discuss with other political parties, we must remain respectful. Otherwise, their view of the opposing side will become more and more radical, and events such as Charleotsville will happen again. However, if things continue the way they are going now, than I think another riot like the one we saw is inevitable.