Let’s Call It Out for What It Was: Domestic Terrorism in Charlottesville

This was Heather Heyer’s final Facebook post before she was killed on Saturday. Heather lost her life as she raised her voice against the hate and bigotry that filled the streets of Charlottesville over the weekend.

Regardless of President Trump’s long delayed second response, we understand that this weekend’s violence was just one more example of domestic terrorism that is born from America’s long, dark and unresolved conflicts around racism and racial violence. We also understand that we are currently witnessing the rising tide of such violence across the country – against all creeds and colors – due to the actions and words of President Trump.

What happened in Virginia was nothing less than a premeditated attack on the City of Charlottesville and a direct attack on the fundamental values of our country. What we saw this weekend was an emboldened white supremacist movement intentionally create the conditions that led to the murder of one and maiming of many.

“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”

We know that what happened in Charlottesville is just one battle in a larger struggle for the future of this country. The struggle is between those who want a country in which straight, white males dominate political power, economic resources, and social norms and those who want a country in which that power, those resources, and those norms are shared among Americans of multiple races and ethnicities.

The swift and courageous response of the anti-racism protestors was a defense of that latter vision of our future. We at Advancement Project California stand with the brave and good people of Charlottesville who have seen this type of hatred before and will once again push beyond it. We should not look to the White House for leadership on this issue. In fact, we should not be looking to any of our government officials for leadership on this issue. Instead, it is up to all of us here in the country, all of us of good will and good conscience, to make a decision about what kind of country we want to leave our children and to then stand up and fight for that future.

“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”

We honor Heather Heyer’s sacrifice. Our hearts go out to her family and the others who were injured and killed this weekend as they fought back against this evil on our behalf. We stand with you to fight against the normalization of such hate and we stand with you in the fight for a more caring, inclusive and just country.