Last year I came back to my hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, leaving New York after a short stay.
I have known this town of Charlottesville for over twenty years. My father worked in this town for as long as we’ve lived in this state. I learned to ride my bike here at the park. I worked my first job here. I attended Upward Bound and dwelled at the UVA campus for summers. I’ve driven its roads and have memorized its curves. I love this city. I AM this city.
That park where I learned to ride my bike was also the same place I was called a nigger for the first time. And it wasn’t Lee Park.
Lee Park has been a battleground of sorts when Richard Spencer felt inclined to invite his White Nationalists to come here and hold a neo-Klan rally protesting the planned removal of the statue. Some White Nationalists are Charlottesville residents and have chosen to make a base here to organize and plan gatherings at the statue. Several events have occurred there since.
Recently, Charlottesville voted to remove the statue of its infamous Confederate general and rename the park. A lot of its residents are patting themselves on the back for (some) showing up to a vigil denouncing White Supremacy, and celebrating the “progressiveness” of our city.
But I rebuke your lateness, Charlottesville. I rebuke your self-congratulatory tone.
I rebuke a city and a commonwealth that does not remember, or chooses to forget, its history. I know of your resistance to school integration. I know the history of your Senator Harry Byrd, (a conservative Democrat) and his crusade to uphold segregation. I know the implementation of the Stanley plan, and the concept of “white flight” from integrated schools of that time. I know the history of a city that has done everything in its power to remove itself from the experiences of, and interactions with, people of color.
I rebuke your feigned White liberalism, Charlottesville. I rebuke your lackluster displays of public unity, which are few and far between. I rebuke your treating a vigil of grief in Lee Park like a night of live music at Fridays After Five. Your compassion for this situation is shallow; you hold the pain of racial oppression the same way you hold your POC with a limp handshake or a lifeless hug, with your woven bag intertwined on your forearm as you load it into your obligatory Prius after a trip to the weekly farmer’s market.
I rebuke you, Charlottesville. I CALL YOU OUT.
I rebuke your facade of order and security. I rebuke your police department, who work both diligently to discourage the activism against fascism while working hand-in-hand with white nationalists to arrest protesters on false charges.
I rebuke your legal system who let those same white nationalists who are convicted of assault get released after violent episodes.
I rebuke your writers who refer to people who publicly and loudly protest White nationalism as ‘extremists’. A fervent belief for the equality and defense of all people should not be referred to as possible “criminal behavior”. Your words are dangerous; your neutrality allows a latent and passive racism to permeate into the souls of our people.
I rebuke you, Charlottesville. I. CALL. YOU. OUT.
And I can see how this may be perceived as anger, or uncontrollable outrage. But I thought about this long and hard; I’m not angry.
I had been conditioned to believe that I am the “angry Black man”. You, conversely, have been conditioned to believe that I am dangerous and unpredictable. That my acts are mindless, illogical, and deserve no merit. We all have been misinformed by an institution of racism of the complexity of my emotions. However, I feel I’ve been very mindful in all of this.
I am extremely disappointed. I am disappointed by the silence and indifference of my community leaders, fellow artists, workmates, and close friends whom I love. I am confused by the absence of my fellow people of color in Charlottesville. I am frustrated by your inactivity, and your myopic criticism of the people who are active. And I rebuke a mayor who names Charlottesville a “city of resistance”, and yet is NOWHERE to be found when resistance to fascism is present and necessary.
I am frightened for the future. I am scared for the values we are instilling into the children of our community. I am unnerved by the example we are setting for ourselves. I am scared of the possible death of decency and discourse in my city. I am extremely scared for the safety and security of my family and friends, and not only those who are people of color.
You may say I hate these White Nationalists. Honestly, I do not. I feel sorry for them; I really do. I empathize with their experience of being miseducated by people in their lives whom they trusted for facts. We all seek truth in the world, and sometimes find it in bad places. I lament them for their misplaced anger. I know those White Nationalists have been deceived and lied to. Truthfully, I am emotionally capable of having some basic level of compassion for these people.
However, compassion for your enemy, and trusting your enemy, are two different things. And I didn’t choose this enemy, they chose ME. And I have an obligation to protect myself, the people I care about, and the city I love.
To do the opposite lacks common sense. To paraphrase Malcolm X, this is the same as asking the sheep to love and trust a wolf. Or asking an assault victim to love and trust their recent assailant. Just as certain criminals are monitored in the community after committing an atrocious behavior, and have to publicly endure scrutiny for their presence in a community, so should a White Nationalist. Just as an ex-convict is criticized by their past actions and is refused services from their community, so should a White Nationalist. Just as a serial murderer is judged by public opinion and all their prior acts of violence and beliefs of hatred are called into question, so should a White Nationalist.
Only insensitive semantics separate White Nationalism from domestic terrorism. They are undoubtedly the same thing. A group that terrorizes the people of its community should not be protected by that same community. It is illogical, and frankly, irresponsible to guarantee and protect the rights of a group of people who believe they are supreme, above all conviction, and virulently oppose giving those same rights to others. If a White Nationalist deprives me of the right to live comfortably through violent rhetoric and philosophy, why should I offer, or even feel compelled to offer that same right?
When a domestic terrorist speaks of certain races of people as “mistakes”, or speak of “cleansing” or “extermination”, they have expunged their right to civility. They have called on every person they speak against to stay alert and defend themselves. Their views incite disorder and violence. They don’t get the right to ‘just go out and have a beer’, because we are unsafe around them.
The people who fight for equality and peace in your city should be congratulated, and NOT admonished. They do the work you are too busy to do. They plan and organize while you drown yourself in distractions and Netflix. They contest the lawmakers of which you can’t remember the names. They face the police whom you fear, who threaten your finances, occupation and livelihood. They fight for Richard Collins, the three men on that train in Portland, and the nine people in that church in South Carolina.
THEY are the resisters of hate. Their sacrifice is invaluable.
This is not extremism, this is regaining control of the community from the hands of hate.
This is not assault, this is protection of its citizens.
This is NOT anger. This is passion.
This is LOVE. Fierce. Unapologetic. Unwavering LOVE for our town.
They fight for what you believe in.
Or at least, Charlottesville, what you SAY you do.
And now the Klan have announced they will hold a(nother) rally on July 8 in my hometown.
I rebuke you, Charlottesville.
Prove me wrong.
Photo Credit: Eze Amos
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14 comments
City council is the definition of fascism. Get their money and connections and not do anything truly meaningful for a dying town. No helping the poverty. No legalized marijuana. No bridging peace between races. No enhanced freedoms. No advances to making healthcare better. No middle ground style politics let alone listening to the people. Just rich fake smiles and decay. Charlottesville will die a slow painful hateful death.
See our post below about the 1946 ‘Jim Crow’ City Charter and City Council’s waste of $15MILLION EACH YEAR. On some other points: 1. legalizing cannabis : cities in Virginia requires state legislature action. But you should also explain what laws you would want to be in place to protect children from exposure to cannabis – if legalized, and even now – since best evidence is that exposure of developing brains to cannabis is associated with psychotic disorders that lead to criminal justice involvement. Also state with legalized cannabis have INCREASED rates of ER visits and hospital admissions – for adults AND CHILDREN – from cannabis toxic exposures. 2. Speaking of bridges: there is an actual ‘Drewary Brown Bridge’ that is supposed to be a physical reminder of bridging racial and cultural and other ‘divides’ but City Council – including ALL THE CURRENT COUNCILORS – have let that ACTUAL BRIDGE fall apart, neglecting its purpose. And the CURRENT COUNCILORS, while spending countless hours on ancient statues left the most vulnerable people – THE SICK, the OLD, with DISABILITIES, mostly Black/Of Color, rot away in a falling apart, unfit, unsafe, and unhealthy Crescent Halls, built back in the 1970s. 3. The good people of the county GIVE AWAY to the City $15MILLION EACH YEAR! What wonderful things they could have done – EACH YEAR! – to bridge, to de-segregate, to ensure affordable housing, to uplift …. etc …. but, what have the CURRENT COUNCILORS done with it?
1 I worked at crecent hall and it is sad seeing where society throw the unfortunate. It’s a mix bag some are decent people and some are trouble makers. I believe poverty is more of a indicator of crime more so than any systemic racism regardless if it exist or not for the sake of argument, but some of them you could give a million dollars and they would still be destructive narrow minded hate machines, that’s why I would put dealing with poverty over precived systemic racism considering all the racial tension is a result of all races have certain oppression unique to their sub culture. For everything you said about marijuana there is an opposite argument for it. People like you just want discussion and no results and outside of knowing the laws you don’t have much creative middle ground solutions to improve our town. Marijuana has shown to cure racism, anxiety and in some cases cancer. Olympic champs and Bruce Lee have been daily users of it. We just treat it exactly like alcohol and apply to alternate medicine and that is it. All the other crap you people spew about it is your need to control not just criminals, but productive working non violent people of our community. One of us values progress and healing racism through economic growth and creative solutions and the other might as well be apart of the city resistance and use the power of controlled talking points to fight off true freedom fighters that ride the middle ground.
And most my comments are being detected as spam and being removed, so I don’t know if you are getting my responses, but this public opinion mind control crap and silencing others is really making me hate this town even more. And I give good drawn out consistent explainations that some or here feel life threatened by it like the timid sheep they are.
I clearly reminded City folks that the good people of the County GIVE AWAY to the City $15MILLION each year. MOST people do no KNOW THAT and should. The people of the City can DEMAND that the City Council GIVE AWAY $15MILLION EACH YEAR to do things they want. For example, as you say: to end poverty! to ensure affordable housing! to ensure every student is well prepared to compete for and keep a great job! etc. Those are very practical steps. Or since you state that you believe ‘it is proved that cannabis cures racism’ (that is a powerful claim and need evidence; please share it). IF there is evidence that cannabis cures racism then the City would spend $15MILLION EACH YEAR to distribute cannabis to cure racism in the City. So, would you say that racism has been ‘cured’ in Colorado, in Washington State, in Washington DC, in Netherlands? .. where cannabis is widely used and not prohibited?
Yes in controlled studies it did just Google marijuana cures racism in neo Nazi group. Most modern racism is tribalism related. The more we see each other as a similar tribe the better off will be. Libertarian views are most compatible ideology to build a single tribe more. You seem right about the million dollar deal and I agree with that aspect, but marijuana legalization will boast our economy and will heal racial tension to a large degree and most importantly people have a right to put what they want in their body. Weed was made illegal to hurt blacks anyways. And with that statue I would of used that 15 million to create a museum near downtown and make it a natural history museum and create a middle ground compromise, bring in more money and suthern diversity to the town. But I guess that is too bigot and illogical.
And what’s making me mad is everything I’m saying is getting removed and detected as spam. I’m telling you these media outlets are anti freedom and social Harmony.
Thanks for the comments. They required approval but just received the emails…
I sent you the site. Parle magazine has to decide if you are allowed to see marijuana curing a Nazi group of racism. That’s up to them and your ability to use search engines.
Yes Kessler does have the right to just go out and have a beer. And people have the right to yell at him.
Disturbing the Peace
Disturbing the peace, also known as breach of the peace, is a criminal offense that occurs when a person engages in some form of disorderly conduct, such as fighting or causing excessively loud noise. When a person’s words or conduct jeopardizes another person’s right to peace and tranquility, he or she may be charged with disturbing the peace.
What Constitutes Disturbing the Peace?
Disturbing the peace laws exist to prevent people from disturbing the peace of others while they are tending to their daily business and personal affairs. These laws vary from state to state, but they typically prohibit:
Fighting or challenging someone to fight in a public place;
Using offensive words in a public place likely to incite violence;
Shouting in a public place intending to incite violence or unlawful activity;
Bullying a student on or near school grounds;
Knocking loudly on hotel doors of sleeping guests with the purpose of annoying them;
Holding an unlawful public assembly;
Shouting profanities out of a car window in front of a person’s home over an extended period of time;
Allowing excessive dog barking in a residential area; and
Intentionally playing loud music during the night that continues, even after a fair warning.
All ‘rights’ have ‘responsibilities’. Inform yourself if you wish, below:
QUOTE
In most states, the person’s conduct must have been on purpose (willful) or with bad intent (malicious). It is not enough that a person engaged in conduct that merely annoyed, harassed, or embarrassed someone else. If fighting was involved, it must have been unlawful, and not in self-defense or the defense of others.
To determine guilt, courts look at the particular circumstances of each case. Some of the factors a judge may consider include the location, time, place, words, actions, and the person spoken to or touched (for example, a police officer, teacher, student, relative or passerby).
Common actions that do not constitute disturbing the peace can include:
Engaging in horseplay;
Simply embarrassing someone;
Merely annoying someone;
Accidentally bumping into someone; and
Giving someone a gesture such as the middle finger, (sometimes even against a police officer).
However, even if a person’s actions are non-violent, criminal liability can still apply if they are likely to incite violence or public disorder.
Penalties and Punishment
Disturbing the peace is a misdemeanor criminal offense. Depending on the jurisdiction, violators could face some jail time, fines, or other alternative sentences such as community service. First time offenders may be able to avoid jail time depending on the circumstances of their cases.
UNQUOTE
That’s like yelling at a stop sign for having grafatti on it lol it’s not worth handing his dumb person publicity.
Hopefully you will also REBUKE the 1946 City Charter …. yep, the CURRENT City Charter dates from 1946, a high tide of ‘Jim Crow’ and ‘racial hygiene/eugenics’ ideology, as many Black and Of Color veterans were returning from the around the world defending democracies around the world. These veterans, and their families, were experience life outside of Southern apartheid for the first time! and feeling empowered with weapons, and respects. So Southern White Supremacy had to updates its legal tools, including the Charlottesville City Charter, in which the City has ‘citywide’ Council elections – that was designed to preserve White social control of people of color, poor and working class people, and other people the elites didn’t like. And that system has worked very we’ll, hasn’t it, for all these decades since the 1940s, to keep City neighborhoods horribly segregated, and disenfranchised communities horribly dis-enfranchises. How about rebuking the REAL power structures of social control, which are NOT statutes, really, are they? Oh, and remember ALL of the City Councilors would have voted to change the names of the parks YEARS ago! Why didn’t they? Oh, and remember that the good people of the County GIVE AWAY $15MILLION or more EACH YEAR to the City and the City Councilors have NOT SPENT $15MILLION EACH YEAR on de-segregating neighborhoods by ensuring diverse affordable housing in EVERY neighborhood, by ensuring all students are well skilled and job ready for a great STEM, health care, or other good job, on making the lives of vulnerable people – the sick, with disabilities, the old, etc – highest quality, etc. Shouldn’t you REBUKE City Councilors – all of them – for squandering $15MILLION EACH YEAR for who knows what, wherever they have cleverly hidden it? Do you believe that ancient statues are in charge of the City Charter? of where Councilors hide or waste the $15MILLION EACH YEAR?