Charlottesville And The White Supremacists

Charlottesville And The White Supremacists

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What started as a rally by white supremacists in Virginia this weekend ended in terror Saturday as a car slammed into a group that was protesting the rally, killing at least one person and injuring 19 others. The tension had been high since Friday, when a group of torch-bearing white nationalists — some giving a Nazi salute — descended on the University of Virginia campus to protest the potential removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. After Saturday’s deadly violence, President Donald Trump said, “we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides … on many sides.” The president’s initial response was met with criticism, with members of his own party labeling it too vague. President Trump spoke again today, saying “racism is evil.” Joining us to discuss what happened in Charlottesville are NPR reporter Sarah McCammon, Rich Benjamin, author of “Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America,” Meredith Clark, a media studies professor at UVA and Jameta Barlow, a Charlottesville native and assistant professor of women’s and gender studies at Towson University.