On Saturday August 12th Charlottesville, VA was the scene of demonstrations and street fighting causing the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuries to 19 others. Two state troopers also lost their lives when their helicopter crashed. A collection of several groups dubbed ‘white supremacists’ came into physical conflict with other groups termed ‘anti-racist counter-protesters.’
Who landed the first blow? Who first used insults, profanity or derogatory language toward their adversaries? Who were the people paid to start physical violence? Where were these men and women from? Why did the police allow the two groups to co-mingle near the campus statue of Thomas Jefferson?
These questions are important if any of the combatants carried clubs, shields, swords, knives, sticks, rocks, bottles of toxic materials or were wearing protective helmets of any kind. Are we headed for anarchy?
One so-called ‘hate group’ had been reported to hold a permit to gather on that date at that location. One of their stated objectives was to resist/object to the removal of statues, especially that of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
This memorial statue was installed in 1924, commissioned in 1917 by philanthropist Paul Goodloe McIntire who purchased the land on which the statue of Lee and his mount Traveler were located. The park’s name was changed from ‘Lee Park’ to ‘Emancipation Park’ recently.
In March 2016, Charlottesville’s Vice-Mayor called for the removal of the statue because its presence ‘disrespected’ certain members of the community. Other critics have referred to Lee as a terrorist and used other words of hyperbole. But here is the overwhelming flaw in this approach regarding the monument that is nearly a century old:
In June of this year in landmark case (Matal vs. Tam) the Supreme Court in an 8-0 decision; Justice Samuel Alito said: “The idea that the government may restrict speech expressing ideas that offend….strikes at the heart of the First Amendment. Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express “the thought that we hate.”
The result of this Supreme Court ruling is that we all must withstand insults and objectionable language, statues, songs and demonstrations. Some quiver when they see banners and marchers chanting ‘Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon’ referring to police officers.”
We probably wondered why Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told her police chief to ‘stand down’ and delayed contacting Governor Hogan to request help from the National Guard in April of 2015. The ensuing riot accompanied by midnight “inventory liquidation” took place as though it were acceptable behavior.
Over the past eight years, our citizens of all ages, races, ethnicities and genders have been brainwashed into individual political, economic, religious and elite groups. We have learned that what we thought were just two sexual preferences, are really seven: M, F, L, G, B, T and Q.
We have learned that there are more religions; the main ones being Christian, Jewish, Islam and Government.
If we accept the premise that relics need to be obliterated because of racial overtones, let’s void the United States Constitution because it was created solely by white men. The Washington Monument should be torn down because the namesake President was a slaveholder.
The USMC monument (Iwo Jima) should be removed; the Marine Corps was an all-white military service until June 1942 when Howard Perry became the first Black Marine. The Naval Academy at Annapolis should be closed because it was all white until Wesley Brown entered in 1945. For four years, no white cadet spoke to Henry Flipper, West Point’s first Black cadet graduate (1877).
Intolerance and political correctness have morphed into virtues by the ‘politically elite.’ People and attitudes change, governments change but history is rigid and indelible and can’t be altered by false logic, mob & government demolition or biased journalists with wide circulation and narrow intellects.
Dick Baynton
