Laying blame in Charlottesville

Re: When the Nazis march where you went to school, Don Braid, Aug. 14 (online) Don Braid’s column implies that the Charlottesville neoNazi demonstrators were connected with the university. As a Canadian working at another southern American university, I doubt it. The leaders of the march were from other states. The man whose car allegedly killed a young lady is from Ohio. Note that it was the citizens of the town of Charlottesville, through its city council, who initiated the plan to remove Lee’s statue.

Mr. Braid attended university there more than half a century ago and he clearly doesn’t realize that things have changed. His column represents an undeserved slur against the University of Virginia and the town of Charlottesville.

Richard Moon, Duke University, Durham, N. C.

The rioting in Charlottesville, Va., by Nazis and white supremacists must be condemned outright. But we should be careful not to feel superior because Canada, too, has had its share of anti- Semites, racists and xenophobics. The pendulum could, as easily as it did in the U. S., swing toward neofascism. This has happened in Europe, where far-right political parties now openly promote hatred and bigotry. Do not for a minute think that this cannot happen here: it has in the past, and it could again.

Reiner Jaakson, Oakville, Ont.

In dealing with the tragic events in Charlottesville, commentators seem to have lost sight of one key factor: namely the failure of the state and local authorities to keep the two sides apart at the rally and to properly police the aftermath.

At best, the Virginian authorities’ behaviour was negligent. Or was it deliberate disregard for the likely consequences of their “stand- down” order, born of a wish to see racists get their deserved comeuppance?

William Cooke, Toronto