During a white supremacist speech given by, Richard Spencer, Aaron Alex Courtney asked a neo-n* protester, "Why don't you like me, Dog?" When the supremacist turned away from him, avoiding the question, Courtney broke the walls of racism with one profound act. He hugged him. The video went viral immediately on social media.
Neo-n*, Randy Furniss, was dressed in a white t-shirt covered in swastikas and was present for Spencer's speech. According to a report by the NY Daily News, the governor of Florida, Rick Scott, had declared a state of emergency before Spencer's speech after the horrid violence that broke out at his previous rally in Charlottesville, VA.
Aaron Alex Courtney is the example we should all follow
31-year-old Courtney is a football coach in Gainesville, Florida.
He could have easily given into those around him, who were encouraging Courtney to hit Furniss, but his need to know what fueled such hatred overcame him. After asking Furniss "why" Courtney received no answer. In fact, Furniss dismissed the question by looking away. That is when Courtney grew emotional, he recalls in an interview with the NY News source.
Instead of giving into violence, Courtney kept asking Furniss the question that he was so eager to get answered. Courtney credits his father, who is a bishop, for his respectful character, claiming that he felt like Furniss, "just needs love. Maybe he never met an African-American like this.”
After pleading with Furniss to answer his question and giving him a hug, the reluctant supremacist wrapped his arms around the man he unprecedently hated so much.
That was the moment Courtney said he heard God say, "You changed his life."
After one last attempt at asking Furniss why he hated him so much, Courtney finally got his answer, "I don't know." Courtney believes this was Furniss' sincere answer, but it was a step in the right direction. Before being escorted away, Furniss stopped to take a photo with a friend of Courtney's.
One hug can change the world
Courtney states in an interview with theroot.com, that he felt one hug could Change The World. In this case, it did. Instead of resorting to violence, which could lead to unnecessary death, Courtney chose to act out of love, and embrace the man who hated him so much. When Furniss did not immediately respond to the act, Courtney did not give up. He continued to love in the presence of hate, and he proved that one hug can, in fact, change the world.
