Showing posts with label charlottesville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charlottesville. Show all posts

Monday, August 13, 2018

No Freedom Of Speech for Nazis

Last year hundreds of far right extremists gathered in Charlottesville VA to protest the removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee. The city mayor refused to grant a permit to the various alt-right groups, however the ACLU argued that the ban was an infringement on the 1st Amendment and a judge from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia gave the go-ahead on grounds that the rally was protected under the 1st Amendment or Freedom of Speech. The Unite the Right claimed the monument to be an historic reminder of the War Between the States, while the counter-protestors argued that the time to eradicate all traces glorifying slavery from the South. The KKK and other White Power radicals held a torch-lit parade reminiscent of the Nazi marches in the 1930s.

The next day turned violent with battles between police and the protestors. The governor declared a state of emergency and the Virginia State Police shut down the streets, but in the afternoon a bigot drove his car into a crowd, killing Heather Heye.

For the most part the police stood and watched the mayhem.

Donald Trump criticized both sides, but infamously said, "There are very fine people on both sides"

A year passed and the far-right has fought in the streets across this nation.

This weekend they issued a call for a rally in front of the White House.

Less than a hundred showed up.

They are not defeated, simply changing their tactics, but the Freedom of Speech was not written into the Constitution to shield hate-mongers.

Resistance is not futile.

Monday, August 14, 2017

Not Again Not Ever

The KKK was founded by Southern white supremacists after the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865. Armed bands of ex-soldiers roamed the night to terrorize freed slaves and elected former CSA General Nathan Forrest was elected Grand Dragon of the racist organization. Thousands of blacks were killed during this first reign of terror and the election of 1868 was a disaster for anyone not voting the Klan line. The federal government and northern veterans attacked Klan members through the law and violence. By the mid-1870s the Klan faded from the political stage, but they were merely in hiding.

DW Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION rekindled The KKK, especially since KKK President Wilson supported the film and the movement to fight black progress and the threat of communism. The protestant churches refused to back the Klan, but the next three presidents were also Klan members and in 1921 over a quarter-million KKK members marched in Washington, a predominantly black city.

Like blacks whites from the south migrated north.

And the nation was ruled by racism.

The burning cross.

Their popularity diminished in the 1920s and membership dropped from 6,000,000 to 30,000.

The KKK never went extinct.

They hated blacks, jews, hippies, unionists, Catholics, socialists, spics, foreigners, gays, lesbians, TVs, Asians et al.

Hate was their drug.

It wasn't for everyone, however in the last decades the KKK have bonded with the Nazis and White Supremacists to create a united front.

Their rans have been swelling in resistance to the tearing down of Confederate statues.

History shall not be replaced.

Blood and soil.

This week hundreds if not thousands of them gather in Charlottesvill VA to protest the removal of Robert E. Lee's statue.

They shouted racist slogans and the police stood doing nothing.

They are KKK members too.

The violence escalated.

The Nazis marched at night.

And their leader gives them the green light.

One dead and a score wounded in the battle.

Many of the Nazis wore Donald Trump's golf outfit.

None of them were as fat as Fatso Trump.

A Nazi through and through.

And they have no rights in America.

None at all.