No Place For Hate

When I came to work on Monday earlier this week a coworker of mine came up to me and a group of other cohorts and said “so apparently some neo nazis held a rally this weekend.” Most of our responses varied around the realm of “oh really?” Then he preceded to show us a video that a friend of his who was an anti protester against this white supremacist group has sent him when he counter protested against them that day.

Of course the back and forth between the opposing sides was heated. As expected, one of the white supremacist called the counter protesters “nigger lovers” for being against them. So it turns out these rallies took place or were at the very attempting to hold further rallies, but they were met with so much opposition, especially when they tried to preach their messages on college campuses like our famous UNC Greensboro, which I’ve attended as a student during COVID. After being hastily ran off that campus they threatened to bring drama to the city’s historical A&T university campus, but of course they didn’t want the consequences that would’ve resulted from even attempting to pull up at an HBCU, the most historical HBCU here might I add. Of course they were sporting their favorite flags: confederate flags and swastikas

Now my first reaction to the news that these idiots were here was very simple and comical. The first questions I asked were have these groups been on the south side or the east sides of the city? Of course everyone had an agreed consensus that these groups weren’t gonna go to these sides of town because they are plagued with the rough neck minorities that they claim to hate so much. Mind you they held their protest downtown next to the city’s police headquarters where they weren’t up against any real threats while they talked fake tough and tried to be antagonistic. They just wanted to appear tough and intimidating. They weren’t really about that action.

If you’re not familiar with our slice of North Carolina, Greensboro has a history of racial trauma and a very special place in the battle for the civil rights of African Americans. We are of course the site of the historical Greensboro Sit-In of the 60’s and the bloody Greensboro Massacre of the 70’s perpetrated by the KKK and neo nazis alike. This city like the rest of the world has come a long way since the 70’s and the 80’s, yet we also still have a long way to go just like the rest of the world.

Greensboro city council member April Parker addressed the hate groups with a simple, but lengthy statement about how racial gate in this historical city will not be tolerated. With that being said, this is what needs to be understood by these hate groups. We are living in a new day and age when all the evil deeds these demons have been getting away with forever are in no way gonna be tolerated any longer. Of course you have a lot of people both ignorant and low-key prejudice that will make the argument that these fools are entitled to their free speech even if it is hate speech. Well I’m here to tell you…no the hell they’re not.

I don’t care what doctrine or laws you refer to in this conversation. No one, absolutely NO ONE is entitled to preach hatred, genocide, any implications that any ethnic group as being the devil just for simply existing. I’m glad to see that everyone of basic human decency is standing up to these cowardly devils in every way possible. People of every race, especially white people are fighting these clowns with words, anti-protest and even their fist if need be and that’s exactly how it should be. As a Black man I am firmly against the concept of turn the other cheek and staying quiet when hate and injustice is unfolding. We as a society have been poising into believing that this approach represents the power of meekness, but it’s really just a neuter tactic, especially against African Americans.

The only way to be these demons is to take a firm stand against their hatred head on. Like the rest of the planet, the city of Greensboro is not perfect, but this is still a great place and it’s no place for hatred. These groups showed up sporting the confederate battle flag and swastikas, both of which belonged to the losers of the civil war and world war 2. Just like them, these modern day white supremacist are also losers. Continue being loser’s peacefully and stay the hell out of our city.