Philosophy paper

Made abstruse in political perception, the genuineness and viciousness of the Charlottesville’s rally bares truth to America’s sustained problem of racial tension. On August 12, 2017, the white nationalists and alt-right groups, in protest of the city’s decision to remove the statue of a General of Confederate army in civil war, descended in masses in the college town of Charlottesville in Virginia. As evident by the accounts of the event, the oxidized statue of General Robert E. Lee’s removal, although the basis for protest, was hardly the source of grievances of the protestors.

The rally termed “Unite the Right” was Jason Kessler’s brainchild. Around 600,000 strong rally had attendees from 35 states and some making the trip from as far as Alaska. It was a prelude to deadly violence erupting from clashes between the protesters and counter protestors. The white nationalists, neo-nazi, Kux Klux Klan (KKK) and alt-right groups constituted majority of population protesting the removal of the statue, while people counter protesting championed “Black Lives Matter” movement and other socio-progressive slogans.

The night before, edginess of racial and social tension in anticipation of white supremacist’s rally in Charlottesville was further strained when the protestors executed an undisclosed, but rumored, torch parade in the campus of University of Virginia. Enormous number of people carrying lit torches wasn’t the only reminisce of ultra-right nationalist propaganda methods from fascist rules; according to eye witnesses, protesters also evoked slogans such as “You will not replace us” and “Our blood, our soil”, popular then in the Nazi Germany.

On the day of the rally, as protestors and counter protestors confronted each other, the vitriol and hate between the groups were magnified. Eyewitness states, “He spouted racist theories about the testosterone levels of black women and the difference in brain sizes between the races. I was unnerved; he truly believed what he was saying.” (New York Times, 2017)

The violence in the rally caused the death of a 32-year-old woman and injured about 35 more. The woman was runover and killed by a protestor, James Alex Fields Jr., when he drove his vehicle into hordes of counter protestors. The perpetrator has been charged with second-degree murder. The deadly violence prompted the Governor to declare state of emergency and use national guard as police to clear the city.

While this event has been interpreted in different versions to fit the required narrative in politics, there is no denying that it was the tangible reminder that racial tensions still run deep in United States, and, when at breaking point, it culminates into violence. Regardless of the underlying fundamental causes or just of the cause, it is evident that the events of Charlottesville because the white supremacist wanted to organize a protest taking down of the statue.

The protestors coming to Charlottesville made an ethical choice as much as they committed physically to the cause. A person concluding that the statue should not be removed for it is a symbol of their heritage, is choosing to further their personal agenda. Protesting to keep up a stone statue as a part of heritage while ignoring the sentiments its provokes in fellow American’s and the predicament it puts American morals in, by its own high standard, is a selfish choice to make. Nietzsche’s existential philosophy would brand this group as weak for being meek. This group is submissive to information that panders to their desired agenda. Due to this meekness, they also astray away from Neitzche’s esteemed virtue of logically differentiating between facts and opinions. In this case, protestor groups have unwarranted fear or bias towards minorities based on false and stereotypical information.

People unimpressed by the removal of the statute, but chose not to protest the city’s decision is making an ethical choice of making others happy while suppressing their desires. In suppressing personal preference with understanding that the removal of statue is good for the order of the city, is making an ethical choice of making other deservedly happy while suppressing own desires. People that arrived at this conclusion have there thinking process in Stoicism. They have accepted the reality of the current state. It is a society where tolerance and diversity is appreciated that narrowness and antisemitism discouraged. It is also that they have overcome the desires; the desires to save a part of their heritage. As in stoicism, people in this group want to fair and justice for all.

In my opinion, the city of Charlottesville made a correct decision removing the statue and the protestors were in the wrong to protest its removal. I think the protestors are wrong in claiming that they want to save it because it is a part of their heritage. Given that General Lee earned his reputation in battlefields in a Civil war, a war fought by south for continuation of slavery, makes him a part of the heritage of all Americans and their descendants. If heritage is the reason for the statue to stay up, heritage also demands that it be brought down.

Moreover, in current society, we promote tolerance. For the most part, we have gotten over the dogma of religious and racial discriminations. We realize that working together is not only aesthetically pleasing, but beneficial as well. General Lee, a symbol of tyrannical blacks’ discrimination before and during the Civil war, cannot justify staying up when the important lessons we want our next generations to learn in exactly the opposite.

As such, the heinous underbelly of United States was apparent for the world to see. While what happened warranted criticism, it is also the place where a conversation of race gets such an important platform. The solution is not here yet, but starting to know what the problem is half the job done.

Works Cited

Bayer, Edu. "What U.Va. Students Saw in Charlottesville." The New York Times 13 Aug. 2017: n. pag. Print.

Fortin, Jacey. "The Statue at the Center of Charlottesville’s Storm." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Aug. 2017. Web.

Hsu, Spencer S. "Charlottesville White Supremacist Rally in August Drew Attendees from 35 States, Study Finds." The Washington Post. WP Company, 08 Oct. 2017. Web.

Phillips, Kristine. "The Man Who Organized the Charlottesville Rally Is in Hiding." The Washington Post. WP Company, 22 Aug. 2017. Web.

STOLBERG, SHERYL GAY, and ENTHALBRIAN M. ROS. "Man Charged After White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville Ends in Deadly Violence." The New York Times 12 Aug. 2017: n. pag. Print.