Anti-racist counter-protesters begin to gather in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2017. (Photo: Karla Cote / Flickr)
Popular revulsion toward overt white nationalism in the aftermath of the August 12 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, appears to have halted the momentum of far-right groups for now. Let’s hope the left is able to seize this moment and turn it into another Gettysburg for the forces of white supremacy.
Anti-racist counter-protesters begin to gather in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2017. (Photo: Karla Cote / Flickr)
The aftermath of the white nationalist “Unite the Right” demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12 has dealt a major blow to the “alt-right,” a far-right brand of politics that has coalesced around ideas based in white nationalism, xenophobia and misogyny. After many months of rapid expansion, the unfolding events seem to have broken the movement’s momentum. While the result of two new far right Bay Area rallies this weekend remain to be seen, if the left is lucky and the correct cards are dealt, this may turn out to be the Gettysburg of those who are called the “alt-right.”
Unite the Right was the largest white nationalist rally since 1987. It included clashes between rally participants and antifascist counter-protesters, and ended with a neo-Nazi driving his car into an antiracist march, killing Heather Heyer and wounding 19 others. Public opinion, at least for the moment, has overwhelmingly turned against the racist coalition of the “alt-right,” as it now looks less like a hip nationalist movement and more like a bunch of cold-blooded murderers. On August 18, it was announced that Trump adviser Steve Bannon — the symbol of the far-right movement’s direct tie to the Trump administration — was leaving the White House. Another far right rally the next week in Boston on August 19 was met by up to 40,000 people marching against it — making it the largest anti-racist rally in years.
But those…