Charlottesville showed that liberalism can't defeat white supremacy. Only direct action can

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Analysis: Charlottesville showed that liberalism can’t defeat white supremacy. Only direct action can.

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It's time to stop relying on markets and multiculturalism, and start engaging in real activism.

By N. D. B. Connolly August 15 at 6:00 AM

https://twitter.com/ndbconnolly

N. D. B. Connolly is Herbert Baxter Adams associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University and author of "A World More Concrete: Real Estate and the Remaking of Jim Crow South Florida." He also co-hosts a weekly podcast, BackStory, alongside Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, and Joanne Freeman.

The white nationalist riot in Charlottesville, a city that boasts “diversity makes us stronger,” made a lot of things clear. One of them is that generic solutions to the racial problem — bland affirmations of inclusiveness, tolerance and “free speech” — will no longer work. Indeed, they have never worked, at least not on their own. The problem of discrimination and equality in America has been far more dynamic, operating like an oversized historical game of paper-rock-scissors. And in such a game, throwing the same thing over and over again is never a good idea.

For a long while, we’ve been throwing a lot of “paper.” Liberalism — our paper — preserves our country’s long commitment to contracts. Under liberalism, citizens stand in contract with their government. The government’s job, in turn, has been to enforce contracts between individuals and groups. Truly, when people ask for rights, be they women’s rights, gay and transgender rights, or rights as people of color, they are asking for contract rights. Capitalism, for better and often for worse, is that baked-in to our political system.

Markets didn’t give citizenship its only meaning, to be sure. But the meaning of citizenship in America has remained most real in the commercial possibilities and legal certainties offered by contract. Our “paper” citizenship, thus, inheres in things like the defensible access to employment, ownership and even, at times, the right to kill as a soldier, police officer or property owner. Liberalism’s loftiest promise, in brief, has been the right to own and not be property.
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N. D. B. Connolly is Herbert Baxter Adams associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University and author of "A World More Concrete: Real Estate and the Remaking of Jim Crow South Florida." He also co-hosts a weekly podcast, BackStory, alongside Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, and Joanne Freeman. Follow @ndbconnolly

[Ford_Prefect]

1. The author has confused Neo-Liberal get-along policies with traditional Liberalism.

The Liberal Democrats I grew up among were the 1st on the street, not the last. We also prayed in the face of police and surrounded the Pentagon. There are many ways to confront violent Fascism and not everyone is prepared or able to face the kind of mob that was in Charlottesville.
One thing we all must do is hold our leadership and our public authorities accountable. We must insist they protect Our Rights and protect us from those who don't respect our rights, including the President of the United States. They need to hear from ALL of us about this, over and over and over again.