Celebrities and politicians alike are speaking out about Charlottesville
After the terrible events that took place at yesterday’s white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, many leaders in our communities, like former president Barack Obama, are stepping forward to speak out and denounce what happened. And though President Trump condemned the violence that took place, many were not impressed with his statement that there was violence on both sides — and that he neglected to specifically condemn the hate groups involved. A further statement released by the White House named the KKK and white supremacists as perpetrators of the violence, but the statement didn’t come from the President himself, and plenty of people still thought it wasn’t enough.
Luckily, others are speaking out about Charlottesville.
And they have important messages about how we can move forwards. One of the most poignant came from Hillary Clinton, who pressed Americans to consider how this could’ve happened here — and how we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Every minute we allow this to persist through tacit encouragement or inaction is a disgrace, & corrosive to our values.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 12, 2017
We will not step backward. If this is not who we are as Americans, let's prove it.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 12, 2017
Across the aisle, politicians from both major parties were speaking out and speaking up.
Mr. President – we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism. https://t.co/PaPNiPPAoW
— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) August 12, 2017
Very important for the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 12, 2017
I urge the Department of Justice to immediately investigate and prosecute this grotesque act of domestic terrorism. pic.twitter.com/AwJLsfUEHl
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) August 13, 2017
And celebrities weren’t ones to be outdone.
And many of them, like Hillary Clinton, went beyond rejecting this specific instance of hatred and violence and insisted on addressing the larger issue of its continued existence. false
Congressman @RepTomGarrett how was your meeting? What did you talk about? How do you feel about emboldening this kind of hatred? Tell us. https://t.co/rTnpNTS4w4
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) August 12, 2017
"The truth is: we are living at this time. And we are tolerating it." #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/U4qBQl93qV
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) August 12, 2017
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While we all wish we could say, “This is not America,” and mean it, the unfortunate reality is that the white supremacists from yesterday’s rally are American and they do live in America. If we don’t own and acknowledge that, we can’t properly address it moving forward.
Let’s hope that, from here on out, we can confront racism, nationalism, and discrimination when we first see it, instead of waiting for it to boil over like it did in Charlottesville.
