NO to White Supremacy!
Confederate Heritage IS Hate!
Take down all the Confederate statues NOW!
On Saturday, Sept. 16, a Tennessee-based organization called the New Confederate States of America (CSA II) plans to hold some kind of gathering at or near the Lee statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue. The group’s stated purpose is “standing up to protect the General Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond, Virginia from being taken down or destroyed.”
The organizers claim that “This rally is a Heritage ~ Not Hate Rally.” Right. Waving Confederate flags near a Lee statue so soon after Charlottesville in a city that is half-Black is clearly meant to be a declaration of white supremacy and must be opposed.
Many Richmond progressive groups have called for protests, some on Monument Avenue, some in other parts of the city. We support all expressions of anti-racism.
For our part, we will be as near to the Lee statue as possible, with signs, banners and chants denouncing white supremacy and calling for the Confederate statues to be taken down.
(For more details, see the Facebook event page "Join the Defenders Sept. 16 to protest White Supremacy!")
Richmond today is facing many daunting problems, from the sorry state of our public school buildings to plans to demolish public housing to the shrinking of public transit to a 25% poverty rate to the epidemic of street violence. And in one way or another they all are the result of the culture and institutions of white supremacy. If we are going to be able to address these challenges, we should at least be able to remove the city’s most offensive symbols of racism.
Please join us this Saturday!
https://www.facebook.com/events/906771696145524/?acontext=%7B"ref"%3A"29"%2C"ref_notif_type"%3A"plan_user_associated"%2C"action_history"%3A"null"%7D¬if_t=plan_user_associated¬if_id=1505352657334020