About today in Charlottesville…
When I was a "younger lad"... 14 or 15, maybe? The cops picked me up one night when they found me spray-painting anti-Nazi graffiti on the back of a building. I don't remember much about the political climate of those days because I don't even remember specifically when those days were, just that I was a younger, less risk-averse version of my current self - but I do remember that there weren't any Nazis marching through the streets of Virginia at the time.And now, there are.As an adult who used to be a kid who used to tag anti-Nazi graffiti on the back of buildings (when I didn’t even have Nazis around to show it to) what’s the law abiding, responsibility-having version of myself supposed to do about the current state of affairs?The most saddening and immediate thing that I feel obliged to do… since some of my newer friends didn’t know that teenager that I was, and maybe all they know about me is that I’m a white, 30-something male who lives in Virginia… is to state publicly: unlike those other white, 30-something males, who marched through Virginia today spewing Nazi hatred & violence - I think racism, xenophobia, white supremacy and Nazism are disgusting and have no lawful place in our society.Now that I've gotten out in front of the ambiguity surrounding who these dipshits are, and hopefully distanced myself adequately, the next step, I think, is to acknowledge what’s going on - no easy feat. How is this happening? What world am I living in, where in 2017 Nazis are marching through the streets of Charlottesville? Where I feel the need to digitally wave an “I’m Not a Nazi” flag? I don't know, I can’t explain. But it's happening, and letting that sink in is the first step.So with acknowledgment and denunciation accomplished… how can I help stop these ideas from spreading? My first instinct (resting dormant since I was that 14 or 15-year-old kid) is to grab a baseball bat, hop in the car, drive to Charlottesville, and swing until it lands on the face of the first pig-fucking racist I see… but over the years I've developed a passable capacity for restraint, along with a few critical thinking skills that lead me to believe turning that feeling into action isn’t an appropriate long-term solution.I'm not sure what the collective response to today should be. But I know that part of it should be to speak out, to let everyone that I'm capable of communicating with know what I think:Nazis are bad. The fact that I have to remind anyone of that, something definitively established half a century ago, is embarrassing and sad. That they are marching through local communities is also bad, embarrassing, and sad. The hateful and racist ideology promoted by these people does not represent real American values. They hide behind a warped sense of patriotism.I guess, for now, fellow Virginians... be aware that this is, unfortunately, a thing that is happening, and it needs your attention.Please be resolute in denouncing it at any and all opportunities to do so.