There have been several protests in response against the Unite the Right, a white supremacist rally, in Charlottesville this past weekend. One such counter-protest took place in Durham, North Carolina.
Takiyah Thompson's role in Durham
At a protest in Durham, protestors tied a rope to a statue of a Confederate soldier and pulled the statue down and destroyed it. Takiyah Thompson has admitted to tying the rope around the statue. When asked why she helped to do this, she stated. "We are tired of waiting on politicians who could have voted to remove the white supremacist statues years ago, but they failed to act.
So we acted.”
Thompson was arrested but has since been released on bail. However, the charges have not been dropped. Thompson faces two misdemeanor and two felony charges, including disorderly conduct by injury to a statue, damage to real property, participation in a riot, damage in excess of $1,500 and inciting others to riot where there is property damage in excess of $1,500. Thompson will attend court on September 12.
Many people support Thompson and her show of bravery in helping take down the statue. She no doubt knew there would be consequences, but did it anyway. She did what she, and many others, feel was right. There is no place for Confederate monuments in our country other than in museums.
There is no reason to celebrate slave owning.
What is the government doing about this?
During times like this, we generally hear a lot from the government. Although President Trump has not released a statement on the toppling of the statue in Durham, he did release a statement about the protests in Charlottesville. However, his statement was rather empty, claiming that both sides were at fault and opting not to condemn the acts of White Supremacy across the nation.
Made additional remarks on Charlottesville and realize once again that the #Fake News Media will never be satisfied...truly bad people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017
Some people have wondered, how in the world can things like white supremacy still be relevant? Why are the KKK and Nazis still so prevalent in our society?
The answer is here, loud and clear. We have political leaders who refuse to condemn white supremacy in action. We have leaders who refuse to recognize and condemn hate.
We live in a country where white supremacists are allowed to live too comfortably. They know what they can get away with, because most of them have been getting away with it for years. The KKK, Nazis, and white supremacy never went away. People decided to be quiet until it was safe to rise up again.
