>This an extraordinarily complex situation, and as such will be misrepresented and simplified by the media.
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>The Charlottesville clash was precipitated by the Charlottesville City Council changing the name of Robert E Lee Park to Emancipation Park and taking down the Robert E Lee statue.
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>The Charlottesville City Council is fully in their right to do this, and conversely individuals who disagree with the decision are fully in their right to protest this decision.
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>The legacy of the Confederacy is very complicated. In one sense the Confederacy was based on defense of the racist institution of slavery, and in another sense based on state's rights.
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>Robert E Lee believed at the outset that secession from the Union to defend slavery was not a good idea, but he found himself choosing to take the side of Virginia in the impending war with the United States.
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>For some, Robert E Lee represents the racist subjugation of African Americans, for others he represents the defense of Southern independence from the federal government.
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>There's no doubt that there were white nationalists who came to protest the removal of the statue. Their views were on display in the form of racist signs and symbols in today's clash. However, there is no doubt some who protest the removal of the statue, who don't hold racist views but see the Robert E Lee statue as a symbol of Virginia and the South and the effort to cleanse the South of Confederate symbols as a politically-correct campaign to white-wash history.
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>As for the counter-protesters, these too likely had a mixture of groups and intentions. For some, they came to legitimately protest what they see as a racist campaign to defend the Confederacy. However there is no doubt that the anarchist/Marxist group Antifa came not to protest, but to forcefully/violently prevent the legal assembly of statue removal protesters.
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>The pro-Robert E Lee statue protesters obviously anticipated Antifa blocking them so they brought shields and weapons to defend/attack and allow them to protest the statue removal. Antifa obviously anticipated the clash as they too brought shields and weapons. A recipe for disaster and thus the clash - a well anticipated and orchestrated event.
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>Lost in the clash, are the peaceful individuals on both sides who legitimately wanted to practice their freedom of speech and assembly to protest and counter-protest.
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>These complexities will likely be washed over and this will simply become a result of the Trump presidency. As the media already showing they are blaming Breitbart and Steve Bannon. This completely ignores the relatively recent phenomenon of Confederacy legacy removal.
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>No doubt, if Hillary Clinton was president we would see the same sort of clash play out again and again.
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>What's the solution? I don't know. But I feel it's important to take an honest overview of all sides in this complex situation.
