{"article":{"id":295675,"heading":"Fascism in Charlottesville, 2017\/Racism in Selma, 1965\/It's still on","author":"Astrid Essed","created":"2017-08-23 04:47:32","modified":"2017-08-23 04:47:32","last_modified":"Wed, 23 Aug 2017 11:47:32","article":"

FASCISM IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, 2017\/RACISM IN SELMA, 1951\/IT'S STILL

ON



SEE ALSO



http:\/\/community.dewereldmorgen.be\/blog\/astridessed\/2017\/08\/22\/fascism-in-charlottesville-2017racism-in-selma-1965its-still-on<\/a>





THIS ARTICLE IS DEDICATED TO HEATHER HEYER AND ALL THOSE OTHER BRAVE PEOPLE, WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE ANTI RACIST STRUGGLE

IT'S STILL ON



''“They’ve got to be brave every day. There’s no reason I can’t be brave for two minutes''

Spoken by the brave woman who confronted him about

a Nazi flag on his truck and uttered insulting language against

her

http:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.c<\/a> om\/news\/local\/article167144232 .html



Dear Readers,

About the nazi fascist march in Charlottesville, resulting in murder, is

much said and done:

But this is what I have to say about it:



FASCIST MARCH IN CHARLOTTESVILLE

For me, that whole racist Charlotteville happening was as a horror

travel through time, the days of the Cilvil Rights Movement's struggle

of the great Martin Luther King [1], Malcolm X [2] and so many others,

who payed the highest price for simply asking for the black right on

PURE EXISTENCE, for living as a human being!

The rights that were fought in the sixties, many people may have thought,

were history and would be remain forever.

A closed chapter?

Forget it:

Because the Charlottesville drama merely points out, that apparently,

by every new generation, black rights have to be fought again......



WHAT HAPPENED?

In february 2017, the City Council of Charlottesville [in the State Viriginia]

decided to remove the statue of general Lee [3], the commander of the Southern

[Confederate] troops during the American Civil War, resulting in the

emancipation of the slaves. [4]

That Lee was at the wrong side of history, doesn't need to be explained,

since he defended the Southern slave states.

That even in 2017, not everyone understands that or is prepared to,

is unbelievable, but true.

There was a horrific neo nazi march in Charlottesville in support

of the maintainance of the statue of the Confederate pro slaveholders general Lee, anti

racist protesters were beaten up and a murder was committed. [5]

But first a travel back in a painful part of history, however filled

with great courage:

HELL ON EARTH ONE

RACIAL SEGREGATION IN THE USA

THE SELMA TO MONTGOMERY MARCHES, 1965

One must realize, that however disgusting and evil the august 2017 neo nazi march in

Charlottesville and how serious a situation in which black rights still

have to be fought, 2017 is NOT de sixties of the former century.

The Civil Rights Movements in the fifties and sixties [6] had to fight for the barely

right of black EXISTENCE on a way we can't imagine anymore:

The right to sit on the bus whenever one choose [7], the right to eat

in the same restaurant as white people, even the right to use the same toilet

and, elementary, the right to vote. [8]

I say it otherwise, quoting Malcolm X, the right to be treated as a human

being

In his words:

''

“We declare our right on this earth...to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.” [9]

In his strategy, Martin Luther King didn't choose ''any means necessary'', but non-

violent protests.

Yet, not using any violence [in between: it is often misunderstood, that

Malcolm X ''used violence'', he did not, but believed in self defence] [10],

he and the Civil Rights Movements met an abnormal form of agression

from diehard Southern racist segretionalists. [11]

One of the highlights of the Movement for Civil Rights were the

Selma to Montgomery [the capital of Alabama] Marches [12]

And Alabama was one of the most diehard racist Southern State

with Governor Wallace, a diehard, tough segregationalist. [13]

Goal of the Marches was to promote the constitutional

right to vote. [14]

Those Marches, filmed and broadcasted on Television, met an extreme

and abnormal police violence, seen by millions and the main reaction was

indignation because of police violence against non violent protesters

The first March, on 7 march, when hell broke loose and police used

TEARGAS and BILLY CLUBS [15] against non violent protesters, was called

BLOODY SUNDAY [16] and one of the organizers of the March, Amelia Boynton,

[17] was beaten unconsciousness , and the media publicized worldwide a picture of her lying wounded on the Edmud Pettus Bridge, where the

police brutality took place. [18]

TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY;

Because people protested peacefully for their right to vote!!!!!!

AND THE BEATING UP OF AMELIA BOYNTON WAS NOT THE WORST YET!

The second march was a surprise for the oppressor!

Due to wide indignation, more people confronted the police [also

a growing number of white sympathisers and many clergymen] [19],and

the police wanted to let them pass, but Martin Luther King turned around and led the marchers back to the church.

That second March, or non-March, is gone into history as

''Turnaround Tuesday'' [20]

And that night, a white group beat and murdered civil rights activist,

Unitarian Universalist minister James Reeb, who had come to Selma to march with the second Selma to Montgomery March .......[21]

His death caused widespread indignation in the country and Martin Luther

King said at a at a ceremony at Brown’s Chapel in Selma:

''\"James Reeb symbolizes the forces of good will in our nation. He demonstrated the conscience of the nation. He was an attorney for the defense of the innocent in the court of world opinion. He was a witness to the truth that men of different races and classes might live, eat, and work together as brothers.\" [22]

Reeb was not the only deadly victim [in that period] of racist violence:

On 25 february 1965, activist and deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson [23] died after being mortally shot by a state trooper, during a peaceful march in nearby Marion, Alabama. [24]

This brutal murder was the direct cause for the Selma to Montgomery

Marches.[25]



MARCH ON MONTGOMERY

But then that great thing happened:

The [third and now real]Selma to Montgomery march:

A week after minister Reeb's death, federal Judge Johnson ruled in favor of the protesters, saying their First Amendment [26] right to march in protest could not be abridged by the state of Alabama:

He stated:

The law is clear that the right to petition one's government for the redress of grievances may be exercised in large groups . ... These rights may ... be exercised by marching, even along public highways [27]

AND THEY WALKED TO MONTGOMERY!

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE! [28]

March began on 20 march, 1965 and at 25 march they all listened

to Martin Luther King's speech in Montgomer, Alabama!

Among the protesters marchers were the rabbi's Abraham Joshua Heschel [29] and Maurice Davis [30]

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel later wrote:

''When I marched in Selma, my feet were praying'' [31]

Coming into Montgomery, first a ''\"Stars for Freedom\" rally was held [32] with supporting singers as Harry Belafonte [33],

Tony Bennet [34], Frankie Laine [35], Sammy Davis Jr [36], Joan

Baez, [37], Nina Simone [38] and others. [39]

Then Martin Luther King held the speech ''How Long, Not Long'' [40]

After the march and giving the petition [with the right to vote] to

one of the secretaries of racist Governor Wallace [which took some

trouble, but at the end they accepted the petition] [41]

BUT AGAIN RACISM CAUSED A DEADLY VICTIM!

At the night of 25 march, Viola Liuzzo [42], a white civilian rights

activist, who had come to Alabama to support voting rights for blacks, was assassinated by Klux Klux Klan members members while she was ferrying marchers back to Selma from Montgomery. Among the Klansmen in the car from which the shots were fired was FBI informant Gary Rowe.......[43]

So far the FBI involvement in murders of civilian rights activists!

The march was an overwhelming succes

The Civil Rights Act [1964] already had ended legal segregation [44]

Now the Voting Rights Act [45], signed by president Johnson at

august 1965, finally guaranteed something that is the most normal

thing in the world [since 20th century!]

THE RIGHT TO VOTE!



FILM SELMA

Those great events are told in the film ''Selma'' [46], a great film

I recently saw and can recommend to anywone who loves

freedom.

The film's title song is a deep moving and brilliant song ''Glory'' [47]

I will end this article with.

But now back to present fascist disaster.



HELL ON EARTH TWO

FASCIST MARCH IN CHARLOTTESVILLE

Deja Vu

That was the first thought that encountered me when I heard from

the disastrous events in Charlottesville.

Again the compelled struggle against racism and fascism.

Agan the Evil of racism demanded a deadly victim.

Another Viola Liuzzo [48], Heather Heyer.....[49]

Events:

I described them above:

To protest against the [at last!] removal of the statue of the

Confederate general Lee [50], neo nazi's decided to hold

a protest against this removal, with desastrous consequences:

So there was a nazi togethering at the Emancipation Park in Charlottesville [51]

[former Lee Park and in 2017 changed in Emancipation Park together

with the decision to remove the Lee statue]

It was a bunch of racist gangsters, like members of the Ku Klux Clan [52],

National Socialist Movement [one of the largest neo nazi groups] [53], Alt

Right [54], etc.

They came together in a protest ''Unite the Right'' rally [55]

In their propaganda for their ''rally'', they openly were talking about bringing weapons and concealed firearms [56], on various

Alt Right and neo Nazi websites, they even made a “hit list” of local political leaders and police, referring to them as “n*ggers” and “Jews.......[57]

While in the media the Alt-Right has worked hard to portray itselves as nonviolent and ‘not racist.’ ....[58]

Dream on......Nothing could be further from the truth.

and

In the past, those Alt Right guys [and their neo nazi ''comrades'']

have carried out numerous murders, arson attacks and

racist acts of intimidation.........[59]



When everything is said and done:

That ''Unite the Right'' ''rally'' was merely intimidating and beating up peaceful anti racist protesters, ending in murder.

Events:

It all began the night before the rally, when a group of hundreds neo-nazi's,

KKK members and other racist gangster groups assembled at ''Nameless

Field'' on University of Virginia campus 'so, friday night, 11 august]

Like the old nazi marchs in Nazi Germany, they walked with torches, held hate speeches, chanting the nazi term ''Blood and Soil'' [60] and yelled ''Jews

will not replace us'' [61]

Horrifying, as though a travel in time, when the Evil of fascism lead to the

Holocaust! [62]

BUT THAT WAS NOT ALL!

Reporters were attacked and intimidated, a small number of peaceful

anti racist protesters were attacked and beaten. [63]

When finally the police arrived [who was absent at the beginning of

the nazi narch], the nazi cowards extinguished their torches and ran

away......[64]

BUT THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE HELL, BROKEN

LOOSE AT SATURDAY 12 AUGUST, DURING THE NAZI ''UNITE THE

RIGHT'' RALLY!

The next day [saturday 12 august], the neo nazi rally was about to begin,

the racist gangsters, who had gathered themselves around

the statue of general Lee in Emancipation Park [65] in Charlottesville, were confronted with thousands of anti racist protesters. [66]

And AGAIN the police stood idle, when the neo nazi violence, which had started

the night before [67], broke loose.

Of course the anti racist protesters fought back! [68]

And defending yourself against nazi violence, is called by some hypocritical media

and politicians [[President Trump, who else?]''violence from both sides.....''[69]

Now I was not there:

And I don't say, there was NO VIOLENCE WHATSOEVER at the side of

anti-racist groups [and I don't mean, of course, self defense], but fact

REMAINED, that the neo nazi and other fascist groups were heavily armed;

A reported told:

''“Most white supremacist and Nazi groups arrived armed like a paramilitary force — carrying shields, protective gear, rods and, yes, lots of guns, utilizing Virginia’s loose firearm laws. They used militarized defensive maneuvers, shouting commands at one another to ‘move forward’ or ‘retreat,’ and would form a line of shields or a phalanx '' [70]

That sounds to me as a deliberate, military attack

And they themselves admitted!

Mike Parrot of Traditional Youth Network, a white

supremacist group, declared:

''“With a full-throated rebel yell, the League broke through the wall of degenerates and TradWorker managed to enter the Lee Park venue itself while they were largely still reeling. Michael Tubbs, an especially imposing League organizer towered over and pushed through the antifa like a Tyrannosaurus among raptors as league fighters with shields put their training to work.” [71]

Again, that sounds facist military to me!



''VIOLENCE ON BOTH SIDES''?\/WHO THE HELL COMMITTED MURDER?

After the fights between fascists and self defending

anti racists and the police mostly idly looking as if it

were some movie, the racists disappeared and

a crowd of hundreds of anti racist protesters were

marching downtown.

Then suddenly a vehicle turned around the corner

and plowed into the crowd, killing a woman,

Heather Heyer........, who was an anti racist

activist and injuring many others [72]

Heyer's killer was James Alex Fields, a, extreme right wing

guy. [73]

After initially defending white supremacists, babbling

over ''violence on both sides'' [74], president Trump,

after being heavily criticized, even by his own republican

friends [75], was compelled to condemn the neo nazi violent

gangs. [76]

But what did that really mean, when the same Trump had

caused a political climate, encouraging white supremacy

and neo nazi's? [77]

Nothing.

Yet the murder was a setback for neo nazi gangsters,

who now are driven in the defense and that's good. [78]

But let's remember, they are not defeated at all!

The struggle goes on.

From Selma to Charlottesville.

Admittedly:

Much is accomplished since then:

Black people have accomplished elementary rights,

to vote, to go to the same school as white folks,

to sit in the bus whenever they will, to eat in

the same restaurant....

Even there has been a black president, mr Obama, a

milestone in emancipation, however criticized by

me and others for his role as leader of the

greatest imperialist power in the world [79].

But although 2017 is NOT the fifties and sixties

USA, there is much racism still.

Look at the job discrimination, the brutal

police violence [80]

It's still on.

And then this violent nazi demonstration, one

of the biggest in long time!

The struggle goes on.

I will end with the text of the impressive and magnificent

song ''Glory'' from the must seen film ''Selma'' [81]

to which I earlier referred.

See in note 82 ''Glory'' on Youtube

But here the text:

GLORY



Lyrics

One day when the glory comes

It will be ours, it will be ours

Oh one day when the war is won

We will be sure, we will be sure

Oh glory (Glory, glory)

Oh (Glory, glory)

Hands to the Heavens, no man, no weapon

Formed against, yes glory is destined

Every day women and men become legends

Sins that go against our skin become blessings

The movement is a rhythm to us

Freedom is like religion to us

Justice is juxtapositionin' us

Justice for all just ain't specific enough

One son died, his spirit is revisitin' us

Truant livin' livin' in us, resistance is us

That's why Rosa sat on the bus

That's why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up

When it go down we woman and man up

They say, \"Stay down\", and we stand up

Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up

King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up

One day when the glory comes

It will be ours, it will be ours

Oh one day when the war is won

We will be sure, we will be sure

Oh glory (Glory, glory)

Oh (Glory, glory)

Now the war is not over, victory isn't won

And we'll fight on to the finish, then when it's all done

We'll cry glory, oh glory (Glory, glory)

Oh (Glory, glory)

We'll cry glory, oh glory (Glory, glory)

Oh (Glory, glory)

Selma's now for every man, woman and child

Even Jesus got his crown in front of a crowd

They marched with the torch, we gon' run with it now

Never look back, we done gone hundreds of miles

From dark roads he rose, to become a hero

Facin' the league of justice, his power was the people

Enemy is lethal, a king became regal

Saw the face of Jim Crow under a bald eagle

The biggest weapon is to stay peaceful

We sing, our music is the cuts that we bleed through

Somewhere in the dream we had an epiphany

Now we right the wrongs in history

No one can win the war individually

It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people's energy

Welcome to the story we call victory

The comin' of the Lord, my eyes have seen the glory

One day when the glory comes

It will be ours, it will be ours

Oh one day when the war is won

We will be sure, we will be sure

Oh glory (Glory, glory)

Oh (Glory, glory)

Oh glory (Glory, glory)

Hey (Glory, glory)

When the war is won, when it's all said and done

We'll cry glory (Glory, glory)

Oh (Glory, glory)

Songwriters: John Roger Stephens \/ Lonnie Rashid Lynn

HEATHER HEYER, REST IN PEACE

IT'S STILL ON

Astrid Essed



SEE FOR NOTES



http:\/\/community.dewereldmorgen.be\/blog\/astridessed\/2017\/08\/22\/fascism-in-charlottesville-2017racism-in-selma-1965its-still-on<\/a><\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Like many other people, I had the feeling, that the Charlotteville disaster was a deja vu. Rights, that\r\nwere fought so hard with blood, swear and tears, seemed to crumble down to nothing. Nazi marches\r\nagain [although not in Nazi Germany], fascist hate, which caused a deadly victim. I just saw the film\r\n''Selma'' about Martin Luther King's civil rights movement and although much has changed, I saw \r\nsimilarities in the oppression of black rights. But this is also written in memory of Heather Heyer and\r\nthe others, who payed with their lives in the anti racist struggle. It's still on.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2017\/08\/295675.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}