This weekend, anti-racists, anti-fascists, student protesters, clergy, and everyday citizens proved that, when it counts, people will stand up against those who would seek to perpetuate violent and vile ideologies. That is not to say that the mainstreaming of white supremacy isn’t ongoing within the nation’s politics, but this past weekend in Charlottesville and Washington, D.C. proved the space for white nationalists, supremacists, fascists, and xenophobes to publicly gather is shrinking.
And every counter-protester who took to the streets this weekend, regardless of motivation or ideology, took part in a grand display of anti-fascism.
While that term has been politicized by those who attempt to rationalize the ideas espoused by white nationalists, for those who are seeking to challenge the worst excesses of this new complex political reality, it is the glue that ultimately binds people together. The unfortunate perception driven by mainstream media outlets, some misguided like CNN, others entirely nefarious like Fox News, is that these counter-protests and demonstrations are nothing but packs of violent anarchists, equivalent with violent white supremacists.
Let’s not forget, who actually killed someone last year? Not the disparate groups of people marching against racism and anti-Semitism. The counter-demonstrators, comprised of community organizers, young professionals, parents with their children, housing advocates, students, clergy, and faith-leaders, who, while disparate, were all committed to the idea that overt displays of racism and anti-Semitism have no place in our public squares.
RVA Mag was on the frontlines of both events, however, this photo journal is an account of the events in Washington, DC this past Sunday, when over 5,000 counter-protesters denied space for white supremacists to rally in the nation’s capital. The same white supremacists who marauded through UVA last year chanting “Jews will not replace us.”
This was a powerful message to send in 2018 when the president refused to publicly denounce the march planned by Jason Kessler, and, as of publication time, has just publicly referred to a black woman as a “dog.”
Some of the best photos from the weekend can be found below:
Landon Shroder: Managing Partner
Counter-Protestors Gathering at Lafayette Park in the Shadow of the White House.
Counter Protestor Marching up 15th Street in Washington DC
Listening to Speeches in Lafayette Park
Two Columns of Counter-Protestors Converging on H St.
Counter-Protestors of all Kinds Linking Up in Lafayette Park
Hello! Wink, Wink
Black Lives Matter March to Lafayette Square
Branden Wilson: Staff Photographer
Something for Everyone Fighting Racism
In Position, Adjacent to the White House
One of the Original Nazi Fighters
Everyday People Joining in the Counter-Protest
Marching up 15st Street with a Picture fo Heather Heyer
Veterans Protesting White Supremacy in Lafayette Park
