Five years ago, on August 12th, 2012, I stood on a beach at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and watched as a beautiful young lady in a white dress walk down the sand toward me.
She was someone who looked at a single dad with a four-year old little girl, who had avoided a high school police record solely on luck and being fleet-footed, who was only saved from a less-than-honorable discharge from the military by the pity of a Chief Petty Officer, who (by pure luck) survived a potentially lethal BAC level... and didn't bat an eye. Ever.
Five years, two more kids, one (annoying) dog, a house in a rural Virginia holler, a few chickens, and a whole lot of loving, fighting, laughing, arguing, tragedy, joy, crying, hugging, and a mountain of incredible understanding later (especially as I've embarked on my run for the House of Delegates here in Central Virginia), we're set to celebrate another trip around the sun past that fantastic date, that still feels as vivid in my memory as the day it happened.
Except this year, that's not in the cards. Because our community is about to be descended upon by a horde of white supremacists who're threatened by the vibrant diversity that has come to exemplify our Central Virginia community, and- particularly in the wake of last year's election- our uncompromised fight for the democratic values our country was founded on.
On August 12th, the "Unite the Right" rally is coming to Charlottesville, Virginia, to advocate for the "creation of a white ethno-state" to "protect" the "genetics" of white people. This started with just Jason Kessler's group of merry misfits- Jason Kessler, if you're not aware, is a local alt-right personality whose entire claim to fame is punching someone who called him an “asshole”, and then complaining about it in conservative media circles. And in case their "white ethno-state" BS wasn't subtle enough, it was just announced they're proudly being joined by the National Socialist Movement (NSM), which is an openly Hitler-worshipping group.
These people have always been around, but over the last two years, have felt increasingly emboldened to come out in public with their asinine worldviews. They came to my attention after the events of January 2016's Y'all Qaeda invasion of the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve, and I was able to have a chat with JJ MacNab- whose work, if you’re not familiar with, you need to be. It made my views on Donald Trump’s candidacy go from “eye-rolling disdain” to “Holy %$#&.”
That view hasn’t changed, and eventually led me to where I am today; running for public office here in Virginia, after deciding there was no way I was going to look my kids in the eyes and tell them, sorry, guys; you’re the first generation in American history that’s going to have to make do with less than I did. That your parents gave up on fighting for the Democratic ideals our country was founded on.
So I suppose it was inevitable that, among the sacrifices everyone makes in running for public office, our anniversary date would be included. I just thought it might be from knocking on doors, or talking to voters, and not, y’know… because we’d be fighting tacky white supremacists.
But it is. I’m issuing a call for our community not to engage these folks; they’re trolls. Attention, uhm… seekers. They desperately want to start a fight- if you have the stomach, delve into the black holes from where they come from, and you’ll see that as a common theme. They literally fantasize, much like a fifteen-year old boy who just found dad’s Playboy stash might, about provoking a fight with the “antifa”- a term which, while originally referring to the neo-anarchist antifascist groups that have also sprung up in the wake of last fall’s election, is now just shorthand for anyone who doesn’t agree with them. Evidence of this in action abounds.
Much like I spent the last seven or eight years screaming at the TV every time I saw Democrats glibly playing by the rules set by Republicans- having the fight the Republicans wanted to have, framed in the way they wanted it framed, and then looking around stunned when Democrats lost time and time again- I’ve been telling everyone that would listen to not engage these folks in any way. Yes, they’re coming to our community; it sucks. But engaging them would only give them exactly what they want.
I get it. I get how hard that is to stomach with a lot of the folks in our community; I really do. And I know it’s also easy for me to say, too, being young, white, male, heterosexual, and Christian. These jerks offend my sensibilities and are disgusting, but not in the visceral and personal way it is for so many of the folks in our community, whom these lovely folks have come to intimidate. I would be hard pressed to find another motive, since their rationale about the community wanting to remove the statue of General Lee is blatant nonsense. I didn’t seem ‘em show up anywhere else debating this, for instance. While not being able to enjoy our anniversary sucks, it’s nothing compared to the threat so many feel from a pack of armed alt-right wahoos talking about having “boots on the ground” in “protecting the white race”.
Still, engaging them on their terms is something we cannot do, and it’s something I will not do. In fact, to live by those rules, I’ve suspended our campaign’s events for that day; our volunteers will be doing phone banking and staying away from the “festivities”. And though we won’t be able to celebrate it as we had intended, my wife and I will be together, working to support our community’s first responders- fire, law enforcement, EMS, and ER workers, who will be doing their best to make sure everyone stays safe and healthy. Because I have a really, really bad feeling they’re going to need the help, so we might as well do what we do best.
For those who want to do something on the 12th, I suggest checking out Congregate Cville, a collaboration between local ministries to stand up to this hatred. For the KKK visit, our campaign also coordinated deliveries of pizza, cookies, and other snacks to local fire departments, EMS squads, ERs (both for the ER staff and for their EMS Call Rooms), and police department. We were blessed enough that even other candidates across Virginia, including Steve McBride from Salem/Roanoke, David Toscano (the house Minority Leader), and Schuyler VanValkenburg from Richmond, joined me in chipping in to help stand up to this. And I know first-hand how tight campaign budgets are!
But whatever the outcome, we will get through this. We will soldier on. Because their message is NOT what our country is about, and I think they know it- this is a last ditch, desperate attempt to hold onto some relevancy. We will endure it and come out for the better, but it will take an enormous amount of blood, sweat, tears, and toil to accomplish.
Join us, and let’s bring progress together!
Kellen Squire is an emergency department nurse from Barboursville, Virginia, running for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 58th District this fall. Donate to, volunteer for, or get the word out about our people-powered campaign today!