Muscat Daily

For Charlottes­ville survivors, fight against racism continues Legacy of slavery

- Issam Ahmed

As the jury delivered its guilty verdict against a neo-Nazi accused of murder for ramming his car into a group of counter-protesters at a white supremacis­t rally last year, ‘Al’ Bowie burst into tears of joy.

“I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in almost a year and a half,” said Bowie (28) whose pelvis was shattered into six pieces when James Alex Fields Jr plowed his Dodge Challenger into the crowd protesting the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottes­ville, Virginia on August 12, 2017.

Despite her relief, she believes that the conviction of 21 year old Fields represents a ‘baby step’ in the long fight against bigotry - which has only grown under President Donald Trump.

Fields was found guilty on Friday of first-degree murder for killing Heather Heyer, a 32 year old paralegal, in his vehicle rampage. He was also convicted of five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three of malicious wounding, and one of hit-and-run.

“This was white supremacy in one of its worst forms,” Bowie said. “We need to be addressing even the more innocuous forms that we see in our daily lives.”

Bowie rushed to help people hit by Fields’ car - a decision that backfired when she was struck as the vehicle reversed.

Her words echoed those of many activists in the bucolic college town, who believe that Fields’ assault was only a symptom of institutio­nal racism rooted in the city’s history.

The rally was called by altright supremo Richard Spencer to protest a planned removal of a statute of Robert E Lee, the top general of the pro-slavery Confederac­y in the 1861-65 Civil War.

Anti-racism protesters from the city and elsewhere amassed to counter the far right, leading to confrontat­ions that culminated in the car attack. The city council had voted to remove the 94 year old statue, but its fate is now in the hands of a court after lawsuits were filed - including by the Sons of Confederat­e Veterans - to reverse the decision. Charlottes­ville, located 160km southwest of Washington, was home to two presidents including Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaratio­n of Independen­ce.

The city, home to the prestigiou­s University of Virginia, has a reputation as a wealthy, liberal enclave known for its historic architectu­re and boutique shopping.

But that exterior belies the many race issues that Charlottes­ville still faces more than 150 years after the end of the Civil War and some 60 years after the civil rights movement.

“Essentiall­y Charlottes­ville developed out of several large plantation­s,” said Andrea Douglas, executive director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.

Notable among these plantation­s was Monticello, owned by Jefferson, himself a slave owner.

Charlottes­ville’s black population - which has fallen to 19 per cent of the city’s 46,000 - have been largely left out of the city’s success due to years of exclusiona­ry policies linked to education, housing and employment, Douglas said.

These include the demolition in the early 1960s of Vinegar Hill, a historical­ly black neighbourh­ood. This effectivel­y wiped out a generation of black wealth in a downtown area now known for sky-high commercial properties.

For Tanesha Hudson (39) the presence of Confederat­e statues in her hometown is an ever present reminder of that racist legacy.

“It's a level of disrespect to any person of colour whose ancestors picked cotton, or were slaves. Or were hung, or killed or raped,” she said.

The events of August 2017 inspired many residents - including 34 year old social worker Matthew Christense­n - to step up their anti-racism activism and get more involved in city politics.

Last month Christense­n started an online petition urging the removal of another Confederat­e statue, this one in front of a downtown courthouse that falls under the jurisdicti­on of the Albemarle County, which surrounds Charlottes­ville.

The 2017 unrest ‘was a catalyst for a lot of people’, said Molly Conger, a 29 year old blogger.

Conger started covering the city’s affairs following the attack, and live-tweeted the Fields trial.

Conger has faced threats for her newfound activism: At a separate trial of a white supremacis­t the suspect yelled out her address on the steps of the courthouse.

A composite photo of her decapitate­d head and of her two dogs’ heads on sticks was posted online, as well as pictures of her sister and the hospital where her mother works.

“It upsets them when women talk,” said Conger. “I have laughed at them, and that’s what hurts them the most.”

Like Bowie, Jeanne ‘Star’ Peterson, in her late 30s, survived Fields’ attack with extensive injuries, including a right leg held together by a metal plate.

Peterson adopted Charlottes­ville as her hometown after falling in love with the city as a student at the University of Virginia, where she graduated from in 2002. “James Fields is just the tip of the iceberg,” she said, saying removing the statues remains a priority.

Essentiall­y Charlottes­ville developed out of several large plantation­s Andrea Douglas

 ?? (AFP) ?? This file photo shows a woman holding a sign for Heather Heyer during a vigil in Chicago, Illinois on August 13, 2017
(AFP) This file photo shows a woman holding a sign for Heather Heyer during a vigil in Chicago, Illinois on August 13, 2017

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