Charlottesville’s #DropTheCharges Campaign has Roots in the Civil Rights Era
The charges that Corey Long and Donald Blakney face for defending our community against white supremacists on August 12 are part of a long, local history of racists using the State to stamp down anti-racist activism.
On May 30th, 1963, a small group of black Charlottesville residents, joined by white anti-racists, were on the fourth day of what was the city’s first instance of an organized, sustained public action against segregation during the Civil Rights era. They were standing in a picket line outside of Buddy’s restaurant, the last in a strip of restaurants along Emmet Street near UVA that remained segregated.
As the day progressed, “four white men came out of the restaurant and had words with some of the demonstrators in the line at the door”, as described by the Daily Progress. The white men proceeded to assault Reverend Henry Floyd Johnson, local NAACP leader and minister; William Samuel Johnson, local supporter; and Paul Morton Gaston, assistant professor at UVA. When police arrived at the scene, they “advised those involved to swear out warrants if they wished to press charges”, but they did not arrest anyone that day.
The racists’ acts of that day were a small dose of the national patterns of anti-black violence in the South.
As the picketers left to file charges against James Franklin Cowgill and Thomas Walker Henley for their attacks on the demonstration, they received news: the racists had filed warrants claiming that the picketers had assaulted them. The three anti-racists were set to face trial alongside Cowgill and Henley the following Friday, June 7.
During the trial after the racist assault at Buddy’s, Rev. Floyd Johnson revealed that an unnamed state trooper had been standing by idly, watching the attack unfold, and failing to intervene. Henley approached this state trooper and asked “How much will it cost me to hit that n***** once more?” The trooper replied “maybe a jail sentence”. Henley proceeded to hit Johnson once more after this reply.
At the end of the two-day trial, Cowgill and Henley were found guilty on five counts of assault and battery, but they received suspended jail sentences of 30 days and a $10 fine. The charges against Floyd Johnson, Samuel Johnson, and Gaston were all dropped. The revelation about the state trooper, however, revealed the true alignment of the state against local anti-racist resistance.
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In the 8 months since the deadly white supremacist “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville on August 12th, 2017, three black men have been charged with assault: DeAndre Harris, Donald Blakney, and Corey Long. The three have been accused by different participants of the white supremacist rally, and the charges refer to instances where the white supremacists had barged into groups of anti-racists.
The local community has been very clear in their demand to the Commonwealth Attorney Joe Platania that he drop the charges against these three anti-racists who were defending their community. Deandre Harris was found not guilty on March 15, which was a welcome sigh of relief for the community. Donald and Corey, however, still have pending court appearances on April 16 and 17, respectively.
The repression they’ve received from the State, and the endless harassment from white supremacists they’ve endured ever since their arrests, prove that little has changed since 1963 back at Buddy’s.
The brutal images that national media has exploited showing residents like DeAndre getting beaten yards from the police station, while police in riot gear looked on, echo Floyd Johnson’s experience with the state trooper and the passive approach of “if you were hit, go file a warrant.” Police in the US have historically permitted (if not downright cooperated with) fascist street violence.
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Almost 55 years years after the false charges against anti-racists at Buddy’s, locals continue to resist against state repression and false accusations of assault against community defenders. As the Commonwealth Attorney continues the white supremacist legacy of state repression against anti-racists, this community resists in honor of those who fought in the Civil Rights era and faced an uphill battle against white supremacists and police.
#DropTheCharges against all anti-racists from August 12!
