[Magdalen] Tragedy in Charlottesville

[Ann Markle]

I agree with the other respondents.  Great description from the inside
(literally!).  I saw the torches on TV, too, and it sent chills down my
spine.  We're lucky nothing else got burned down, including the church you
were in!  Wish I had been at that gathering at the church.  I'm so sorry
this happened.

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Ann

The Rev. Ann Markle
Buffalo, NY
ann.markle at aya.yale.edu

On Sat, Aug 12, 2017 at 11:05 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Well, you all are partly right about this awful situation...and "Tragedy"
> is exactly what it is.  I live about 12 miles north of Charlottesville, and
> when people ask where I live, I usually just say Charlottesville, because
> nobody's heard of Ruckersville!
>
> This started out as a reaction to the decision by the Charlottesville City
> Council to remove statues from two city parks--Lee and Jackson. For some
> reason, Lee has drawn most of the headlines. Anyway, the Council voted to
> sell the Lee statue, since no one could decide what to do with it.
>
> However, as various alt-Right and white supremacist groups got hold of
> this, it was clear that the statue was just an excuse for them to come here
> and cause trouble.  There was a small rally in July by the Klan, and that
> shook folks out of their complacency a bit, but this weekend's rally--which
> had already been planned by the time of the July event--was spearheaded by
> a local neo-Nazi and his group, using the statue as a catalyst. They put
> out a call for other groups to join them, and the event was called "Unite
> the Right."  (I just wrote "Untie..." like that better). Most of those
> participants were from out of state, especially North Carolina.
>
> In the meantime, local faith and social justice coalitions began preparing
> for a peaceful counter-protest. They did non-violence training and held
> meetings and services. There was a call for 1000 clergy to come to be part
> of this. Our bishops asked the clergy in our diocese to come. The church
> where I'm serving right now asked if we could have a prayer vigil, so I
> stayed here for that. I had already decided I wasn't going downtown.
>
> But I did attend a large interfaith service last night at St. Paul's
> Memorial Episcopal Church, which is across the street from the University
> of Virginia Rotunda. The service was terrific, lots of good preaching and
> praying and singing. Cornel West gave an address, and the national
> president of the UUC preached. Brian McLaren was there, and there were
> leaders from all three Abrahamic traditions.
> At the end of the service the leaders started leading us in another song,
> and then another, though that was not in the program--we were done.
> It suddenly dawned on me that we were being kept inside, and when I said
> something about that to the woman behind me, she said there were people
> outside with torches. They finally told us what was going on and which
> direction was safe to go in when we left the church. I had been able to
> park close to the church, so we didn't have a problem getting out. But it
> did give me pause.
>
> As far as a connection with UVA students is concerned, the university
> president had urged students and faculty to stay away from the rally.
> However, when the torchlight procession came onto the university grounds
> and headed for the statue of Thomas Jefferson, a group of students formed a
> barricade around the statue. I was stunned this morning, when I saw the
> pictures of just how many torches there were.
>
> It's going to take the city a long time to get over this, I'm afraid, and
> the current political climate isn't helping. The governor spoke at a news I
> conference this evening and made a very powerful statement. He said he had
> talked with Trump and told him that the hate speech and divisive rhetoric
> has to stop--told him that twice. Trump made a very general comment
> decrying violence, but not speaking out against the hate speech of these
> white nationalist groups. I think they were emboldened by last year's
> campaigns and the election, and feel they have permission for this kind of
> speech and action. I don't see that getting better in the near future.
>
> As far as what should be done about Confederate statues, flags and other
> memorials, that's a topic for another day. It's very complex, and emotions
> run high. In many ways the Civil War has never ended, especially in
> Virginia!
>
> Sorry for the length of this. I guess I was processing the whole thing.
>
> > On Aug 12, 2017, at 6:14 PM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
> magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 8/12/2017 5:46:14 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> > ann.markle at aya.yale.edu writes:
> >
> > one dead  and 19 injured when a car plowed into a
> > group of counterprotesters -- and  nothing to do with the University, as
> I
> > understand it, but rather white  supremacist rallies centered around a
> city
> > park. I'm sure students were  present, but not a university event
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> >
> >
> > I appear to have conflated this sad event today in Charlottesville, VA
> with
> > some of the demonstrations around the attempts to remove Confederate
> > monuments throughout the USA South.  There has been, for  example,
> > much trouble in New Orleans.
> >
> > The Charlottesville ruckus appears to be a purely political
> demonstration
> > though it probably involves the same basic groups as the monument
> > removals.
> >
> >
> >
> > David S.
>