Was Charlottesville Really that Surprising?

Peter Jacob
Aug 23, 2017 · 6 min read

In our thoroughly connected world of instant gratification, it’s easy to immediately call out overt racism, hatred, and bigotry. It’s easy to look at the horrific images that came out of Charlottesville, listen to the horrendous things said by the right wing nationalists and their commander-in-chief, and instantly fire back with proportionate disgust. These are all things that we, who value decency and respect, have done and shall continue to do, but the events in Virginia and their aftermath have colorfully illustrated the dire need for action of far greater impact and consequence.

As a proud American patriot and person of color, I was equally sickened and infuriated by the recent neo-Nazi and white supremacist terror attack in Charlottesville. Millions of our fellow Americans gave their lives and livelihoods in the fight to stamp out the alt-right wildfires of Lee’s Confederacy and Hitler’s Third Reich. To see our beloved Stars and Stripes flown alongside the Nazi Swastika and the Confederate battle flag is a national disgrace. You cannot march under the colors of freedom and justice while cowering beneath the banners of hatred and oppression. You cannot fly the flags of America’s two most historically sinister enemies and consider yourself to be a patriot.

Mr. Trump’s response of gross false equivalency wrapped in impotent bravado gives zero notion or comfort that his administration is going to actively treat, let alone acknowledge the systemic oppression that is wired into our nation’s DNA, but it is likely to happily continue to take advantage of the racial, economic, and political divides it causes.

The racism and fascism so intensely exhibited by the white supremacists in Charlottesville was not conceived in the planning of their hateful rally. On the contrary, it has been felt with quiet violence for far too long by people of color in our everyday lives. As a candidate running for United States Congress, similar hatred hits home, literally, as my family home in Union Township has been vandalized multiple times with swastika graffiti, and my opponent last year, Leonard Lance, attempted to compare me with a terrorist simply based on the color of my skin.

Disgusting and jarring as such displays of hate may be, we must be sure to step back and view the events of that weekend not in a vacuum, but as the latest symptom of a disease that has been endemic to our society since its inception.

That disease is the false belief in the superiority of any one person over another; one group over another, one color over another; one religion over another.

Since hate groups have been on the rise since 2014 (according to the Southern Poverty Law Center), it is important to acknowledge that American fascism existed long before Trump’s entrance into the political arena and will likely persist even after his exit. That said, it is especially important in today’s times to dedicate ourselves to sweeping reform and meaningful policy changes.

As revolutionary civil rights and labor activist Grace Lee Boggs once said, “You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.” Our democracy is our greatest weapon against the rise of fascism, and for it to function in our favor, it requires every single one of us to stand up and get in the game. I’ve had enough and I’m ready to put my money where my mouth is. Here’s what I’m planning to do.

Campaign Financing & The Right to Vote

American democracy, revolutionary though it once was, is currently sick and dying. We have less and less control over the choices lawmakers make for one simple reason: money rules. Those with enough wealth to donate millions to election campaigns get their voices heard. No major issue we face, including systemic bias and racism, will be solved until we win the battle against big money in politics.

We need a constitutional amendment that clearly states that money is not speech, corporations are not people, and every single American citizen has a guaranteed right to vote. We then must go further to pass strict anti-corruption legislation for all levels of government, ban partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, and create a fully funded, fully transparent public electoral system. Once our democratic process has been secured, and government once again works for us all, we can finally make way in tearing down the machinery that keeps fear, hatred, and racism alive and well in 21st Century America.

Criminal Justice

The very concept of private prisons fundamentally contradicts American values and the industry must be banned altogether. For-profit prisons are incentivized to keep filling beds, and absolutely love recidivism. Is it any wonder why they continually cut rehabilitative programs, and spend heavily in passing laws that perpetuate the failed Drug War and draconian immigration policies? The prison industrial complex is one of the, if not greatest, cause(s) of the astronomical rate of minority incarceration.

Marijuana Legalization

After we remove the ability of the Drug War profiteers to influence drug laws, we can immediately decriminalize and legalize marijuana, and divert billions of dollars per year into treatment and education. We can and will also set up a system of drug courts, create jobs by hiring thousands of highly trained public attorneys, and revamp the tyrannical sentencing laws that have decimated the lives of millions of American individuals and families.

Single Payer Health Care

Once we block the for-profit health insurance industry’s unethical control over American politics, we will be able to enact a Medicare-for-All health care system and free millions of Americans of every race and creed from the oppression that comes with inadequate health care. You aren’t free if you are sick. You aren’t free if you are in debt or bankrupt because you got sick. You aren’t free if you are stuck at a job just because it might offer health insurance. Medicare for All is freedom for all, and that freedom will go miles in fighting inequality.

Education and a Livable Wage

Public education is perhaps the most important factor and tool at our disposal when combating racial inequality. As public schools are paid for by local taxes, the best way to fund them is by raising the minimum wage. When we raise the minimum wage to $15/hour, we ensure that working families have more money in their pockets. They spend this money in the local economy, which increases the tax base. This enables communities to properly invest in their schools and create jobs by hiring more teachers. We must also ensure that any student who is able and interested, can attend college, tuition free, allowing millions of POC an opportunity to succeed, and a more even playing field with higher skilled jobs.

Environmental Responsibility

When we prevent polluters in the dirty fossil fuel industry from paying off their climate-crisis-denying lackeys in government, we can create millions of good paying jobs in revolutionizing our obsolete infrastructure, and creating a 100% renewable energy power grid. Not only will we be able to invest billions of dollars directly into the working class and under resourced communities, but we will also finally claim our responsibility to take care of our planet and move America back to a leadership role on the global stage.

While resignation and cynicism are tempting during dark times, it is our duty to band together and reach toward the bright light of justice. Just as the Greatest Generation rose up to snuff out the rise of the genocidal fascist right, so too must we. Just as the Union armies rose up to free millions of their fellow Americans from the bonds of systemic oppression, so too must we. We stand today on the shoulders of the giants of our past. It is our right, and it is our sacred obligation to carry on their fight and succeed where they left off. We must become the next Great Generation. It’s time to fight forward.

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Peter Jacob

Written by

Social Worker, Progressive Activist, Former Candidate for U.S. House in NJ-7

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