We cannot regale you with the history of racism in America nor can we hope to disentangle who did what and when and why back then.
This whole thing started the moment someone thought of the idea to have a rally. The rub comes in the difference between what was said and what is intended. These are the things that no one is talking about.
What was said was "Let's have a rally where we express our views because we are fast becoming a minority in our own country and we are disenfranchised white people!" What was actually being said either in their own head or aloud in meetings or on social media was:
We are going to have this rally and stoke up hatred and anger until a fight breaks out. That way, once we enrage people so much that they throw the first punch, we can say that we did not start it but we will be justified in fighting, and possibly even shooting and killing them.
Then a supposed liberal "Anti-Fa" heard about the rally and immediately began to make plans to go. This person went out and bought all the gear; helmets, baseball bats for "self defense" even though their mere presence would incite anger. They were going to fight. They bought mace.
Then came the screaming match leading up to the event. People on both sides were saying they were going to be there and the message on both sides said:
I dare anyone to touch me as I scream in their face and call them names! Although I know they will!
The voices began to meld, left and right.
I'm gonna start a fight!
I'm gonna start a fight!
I'm gonna start a fight!
I will start a fight! I will be on TV. I will be on Youtube!
What about the issue? Who cares! This is a chance for me to be popular. How many "likes" will I get for being there! This is the new party. This is new rave!
James Alex Fields Jr. planned to drive his car into a crowd of people. When exactly he had the idea, who knows. His lawyers will tell him when it will sound best to say he had the idea. Did he plan it weeks in advance or was he so irritated at the actual rally that he just went back to his car and decided then? Temporary insanity or premeditation? A lot of things will be said, but who knows.
We knew it was going to happen. Everyone could see it coming from a mile away. We all made it happen. There were no unintended consequences. We have made the payoff too enticing. Fame.
People were posting about the event all day and night, waiting to get a glimpse of some violence. People saw other people and got closer and closer and those who could not get on tv broke out the cell phones and selfie sticks and said "Look at me! I am here! I am doing something!"
Peace and understanding were the last thing that we wanted at this thing and the moment Fields Jr., turned the ignition on the car that drove through the crowd was the moment everyone got what they wanted. Someone was going to get hit. Someone was going to the hospital. The chances were more slim that someone was going to die, but there was still a chance. It was more likely than not and became more so as he pressed down on the accelerator.
Then when it happened, did people drop their cameras and help? Nope. Many people kept filming. The first video to hit showed a man angling for position when the car struck the crowd. He was holding his phone in his hand screaming for someone to call 911 as he worked to get a better angle. He yelled at the cops for not being there as they came to see what had happened. Take a moment to let that sink in.
Anyone watching as it happened saw that there was a rush to be the first. The same article posted on numerous sites over and over without any in depth analysis, just "I was there." or "I am so sad."
The messages then evolved and the topics migrated. The simple message of being anti-white supremacist turned into discussions of how gays and women and even white people are affected by these events and it became "Ooooh a thing is happening to someone else and is trending, how can I apply it to me and the thing I want to talk about?" It was amazing how quickly the memes showed up. People read or watched it and said, "This is sad. I have to capture it in picture form making sure to put my watermark on it in case it starts trending."
Politicians and celebrities spoke up. It is a relatively safe position. "Hating minorities is bad and aligning yourself with a movement that hundreds of thousands of people gave their lives to defeat, is not American." The governor called for them to get out.
The President, of course, could not do that, causing the issue and the message once again to morph into simple condemnation of his lack of spine. We asked if he is trying not to alienate his base? David Duke was kind enough to remind him that he was essentially elected by those Nazis.
But what if no one showed up? What if we just let them walk around in circles, shouting? What if we saved the gas money that was spent for some driving hundreds of miles and put it towards funding another cause we believed in? What if we threw a rally and nobody came? That was not an option. Everyone there was looking for a fight, either to get in one or see one.
The only good thing is that lightning rarely strikes twice. For all of the bluster, there were a relative few people there. The numbers are not in yet but only a few thousand people showed up. Given the results of this event two things will likely happen. First, zealous people will attempt to duplicate the event in numerous places and dilute the numbers and the same goes for people on the other side. Rather than have numerous groups getting past their desires to lead the event and forming one large group, what will likely happen will be numerous small events events and people's attention spans and willingness to engage will wane exponentially each day.
In a week or two, no one will remember and we will be on to the next thing. Selfies will get fewer likes and a new atrocity will appear. Trayvon who? Can you believe it's been three years since Michael Brown was shot?
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