I don’t have anything uplifting or insightful to say on Charlottesville that hasn’t already been said. I do want to point out, though, that as we hear again and again that white supremacist terrorism and Trump’s reaction to it is not how most Americans or Republicans think, these polls prove that wrong.
A full 67% of Republicans approve of Trump’s message after Charlottesville, in which he blamed “many sides” for violence and later equated counter-protesters to neo-Nazi and white supremacist terrorists. Another poll showed that six in ten people who approve of the president say there is nothing he could do that would change their level of support.
So let’s stop imagining that Trump’s reaction to this horror is an anomaly – it’s not.
Glass Half Full
At least the magazine covers are getting it right.
What I’m RTing
Folks lining up to be arrested at durham jail supported by hundreds of community members pic.twitter.com/ZYLYvVeH1c
— mark buttons (@_mikeburrows_) August 17, 2017
If you've wondered what you would've done during slavery, the Holocaust, or Civil Rights movement...you're doing it now. #Charlottesville
— Aditi Juneja (@AditiJuneja3) August 12, 2017
Never forget to be extremely wary of every person in your life who has not experienced this last year as a personal moral emergency
— Jia Tolentino (@jiatolentino) August 15, 2017
"Yes I flew across the country to march in the dead of night w/ a torch while yelling I will not be replaced but I'm not an angry racist." https://t.co/SoYpfxRT0t
— Stacey E. Singleton (@staceyNYCDC) August 13, 2017
Who I’m reading
Adam Serwer on the conservative mythology around Robert E. Lee and Karen Attiah with a piece that imagines the way media would cover Charlottesville if it happened in another country. I’m also watching Heather Heyer’s mother talk about why she won’t be speaking with Trump.
Mother of Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer: "I'm not talking to the president now. I'm sorry." https://t.co/OAof8quXJP pic.twitter.com/5p3opa2bBV
— ABC News (@ABC) August 18, 2017
What I’m writing
At Marie Claire, my take on the well-meaning but dangerous reaction to Charlottesville that insists “this is not us.”
How outraged I am
A police officer in Texas was caught on video forcibly searching a college student’s vagina after pulling her over, something so egregious there’s no scale of outrage that would do it justice.
How I’m making it through this week
No clever gifs or cute videos for this week. Just wishing you all well, and hoping that you’re safe and taking care of yourself.
