There’s no place for hate in our communities

Our staff and volunteers at Greater Greater Washington are, like hopefully every one of you, shaken by the hateful people who descended on Charlottesville to preach white supremacy, Nazism, anti-Semitism, and more—most of all the man who allegedly intentionally drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Greater Greater Washington doesn't talk about most national political issues, and welcomes participation from the left and right (both of which, for the most part, are condemning neo-Nazis in America). However, especially with this disturbing event so close by, we felt it was necessary to make mention of it and how troubled we all are that people who preach violence and hatred toward other groups of people are emboldened in today's political climate.

Also, there are ways the recent news does intersect with urbanism. Some of our contributors had thoughts on the matter.

Bradley Heard said,

Inclusivity, diversity, and public safety are at the heart of true urbanism. We seek communities where people of diverse incomes and races can live affordably, close to where they work, shop, and recreate. We seek public spaces (streets, parks, etc.) that are open, welcoming, and accessible to all. We seek communities where everyone can have the freedom to move about, at any time of day or night, secure in their persons and their property.

We want communities where we can eat a variety of foods, see a variety of people, hear a variety of music, experience a variety of art and culture. Somewhere that is not monolithic, not cookie-cutter, not one-size-fits-all. In short, true urbanists seek a community that rejects everything that those neo-Nazi white supremacist terrorists were marching for.

Matt Johnson added,

The original white-supremacist protest came because Charlottesville wanted to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces. While DC is largely free of these sorts of monuments (most of ours are Union generals), other parts of the region aren't so lucky. Montgomery County recently removed a monument from County land in Rockville. Virginia has tons of these, including street names like Jefferson Davis Highway.

To Matt's point about local monuments, Alexandria has decided to rename Jefferson Davis Highway (Harriet Tubman Boulevard?). DC isn't totally free of Confederate memorials; there's Albert Pike, somewhat briefly a Confederate general and more notably a Masonic leader, at Judiciary Square, Jessica Raven noted.

Dan Reed has written in the past about why the design of public space is so important to people's ability to speak. Many UVA students and Charlottesville area residents took advantage of Charlottesville's public spaces to counter-protest. (Of course, the white supremacists were using public space too, and their right to peacefully assemble deserves protection, but committing acts of violence, needless to say, does not. Meanwhile, in Citylab, Kriston Capps argues their actions threaten public space.)

Do our segregated communities contribute?

Matt Johnson added,

Finally, I think a lot of this white supremacism is enabled by the way we have built our communities. We never really integrated our nation. Yes, we removed many of the barriers to minorities living in any community they choose, but many barriers also still remain. …

Schools are growing more segregated rather than less in many areas. Voting discrimination is becoming mainstream. Police brutality remains a major issue that we seem to lack the willpower to address. But it all stems from, I believe, the fact that we are largely segregated.

I also hope our urban areas can combat segregation and build a society where all people can live together. It'll be a battle; many liberal residents of metropolitan areas including ours decry segregation and then push to keep their kids' schools segregated. And some research suggests that as white Americans hear about or perceive a more multicultural society, they actually become (on average) more hostile to other racial groups or more likely to oppose government programs that help the poor.

Brian Resnick wrote for Vox, “There’s one study that shows it’s possible to meaningfully reduce prejudice in the real world. And for that opinion change to happen, it requires going door to door and having voters talk about their real lived experience, and their own memories of feeling marginalized. It isn’t easy. But with contact, it’s possible.”

We all need to constantly work to fight hate, prejudice, and segregation in our world, our nation, our communities, and even ourselves. Let's make Charlottesville a reminder of how urgently we must do that.