Many Sides

All week I've been working on a post about the negative reaction to the newly announced TV show Confederate. I was examining the use of dystopia in modern storytelling, and the historical struggles of African-Americans, trying to understand all arguments being made, and agonizing over the subtleties of each perspective. Then the Charlottesville protest happened, as if to say, "fuck subtlety." Fine then.

• Even by the usual standards of the media, it was amazing how long it took to state what actually happened. First it was "violence broke out at a protest, one person was killed." Then it was a car hitting protesters, no mention of intentionality or which side. Then it came out that it was the counter protesters who were hit. Then we find out the car accellerated at the protesters. And finally, we find out that it was Black Lives Matter protesters who were intentionality hit. A massive story that took all day for them to admit.
• The person killed was local paralegal Heather Heyer
• Her death kind of eclipsed the brutal beating of Deandre Harris, whose life was probably saved by fellow protesters.
• There was the bizarre situation in which a hate group from Detroit co-opted the Detroit Red Wings' logo, and the team was forced to issue a condemnation. As many pointed out, they acted quicker and more definitively than Trump.
• Another point not lost on people: This is a University town, and the protesters chose mid-August, the time when there would be the fewest people to confront them.
• Trump hit a new low with the vaguest possible condemnation, implying that the violence came from "many sides." America's Neo-nazis were overjoyed that they didn't get condemned. Dog whistle received.
• By the way, this all started because of talk about removing a statue of Robert E. Lee. It's in the middle of "Emancipation Park."
• It also got lost that two police officers were killed in a helicopter crash on the way there.
• There were plenty of complaints about police inaction, with a mere three arrests (compare that to 30 the first night of Ferguson protests. ) However, it's also hard to blame them given how outgunned the police was compared to some of the militias on hand.
• I didn't even realize that Tiki Torch is a brand, but apparently they didn't appreciate being associated with white nationalism either, and issued their own condemnation. And I'm sure the makers of bland men's clothing will be for ways to distance themselves, now that they're quickly becoming the new white hood. I know the next time I shop for clothes, I'll stop and ask myself, does this make me look like a Nazi?