Tag Archives: Charlottesville

Justice for J6 sputters

The Justice for J6 demonstrators protest sputtered from the start, with turnout estimated at just a few hundred people, even after months of buildup. There were plenty of people there; Capitol police were abundant, National Guard were activated in reserve, … Continue reading

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Statuary impacts: complex causality, the limits of social science, and striking Gen. Lee’s statue

In the wake of a dozen days and nights of protest against racialized police violence, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ordered the removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, that has loomed over the state capital’s Monument Park for … Continue reading

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Chains of change

In an expression of commitment and principle, served with a chaser of trolling for the president, Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed the plaza in front of the White House, and commissioned artists to paint BLACK LIVES MATTER in broad capital (or … Continue reading

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Drive by tooting; protest in cars, COVID-19 5/x

Honk if you hate government. A report from Lansing: Activists are always looking for ways to demonstrate their concerns. A good tactic energizes your supporters, discomforts your opponents, and engages bystanders. Despite the extraordinary range of imaginable activities out there, … Continue reading

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How activists should respond to the racist right: 3. ignore them (sheetcake)

The fish that always rises to the bait doesn’t live very long or very well. (Another entry in the series I started a month ago; you can find part 2 and part 1.) The racist right feeds on the (justified) outrage of … Continue reading

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How activists should respond to the racist right: 2. shut them down (antifa) (?)

Standing up to a racist fascist movement when it is still small enough to start seems to make sense. Antifa is an umbrella term uniting people who commit to doing so aggressively, as (at right) in Berkeley in April. Of … Continue reading

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How activists should respond to the racist right: 1. nonviolent counterdemonstrations

Of course it’s heartening to see 40,000 explicitly anti-racist demonstrators turn out in Boston (August 20), dwarfing the assembly they were protesting against. Was it the best approach to countering white nationalist mobilization advancing in response to Trump adminstration policies … Continue reading

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How Trump encourages and provokes political violence

Donald Trump has done great damage to more than his presidency. With his remarks about the tragedy in Charlottesville, Trump dramatically increased the nourishment and encouragement he has been feeding the racist right. Activists respond to signals, and racist right … Continue reading

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Business defections, updated

Donald Trump’s advisory councils are no more. This doesn’t mean, of course, that Trump will no longer be taking advice; it’s not clear that he ever listened to these groups anyway. But, since the horrifying events in Charlottesville, and especially … Continue reading

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And the Confederate monuments?

About those statues? The Nazis and Klansmen and associated white racists said they were marching in Charlottesville to save the statue of General Robert E. Lee on horseback. Last year Charlottesville’s City Council voted to strike the statue and rename … Continue reading

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