The Carolinian - Vol. 55, Issue 1 - Aug. 28, 2017

OPINION: America, one nation under controversy
Stephanie Sawaked
If you are slightly out of touch with reality or the social issues going on in our
country, it may come as a surprise to you that over the last few years our country has
experienced what some would call an epidemic.
No, I’m not talking about the opioid crisis or the election of Donald Trump as the
45th President of the United States. It is a nationwide controversy regarding race,
religion, freedom of speech and most importantly, terrorism.
When we think of terrorism, we popularly associate it with historic attacks carried
out by members of international terrorist organizations, such as ISIS. However,
Oxford Dictionaries defines terrorism simply as “the unlawful use of violence and
intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.”
Truth is, terrorism knows no boundaries or borders. Domestic terrorism is no exception
to the rule and is rapidly spreading through our nation.
A protest began on the campus of the University of Virginia Aug. 11. Members of
white nationalist groups, white supremacist groups, and the Klu Klux Klan gathered
to practice their First Amendment right and express disdain for the removal of the
statue of Civil War confederate, General Robert E. Lee.
Things quickly began to escalate when counter-protestors such as Antifa and Black
Lives Matter members arrived in opposition.
One person was reported dead the next morning and many small fights broke out,
involving pepper spray and debris being thrown. Members of the Alt-Right groups
began chanting popular Nazi phrases like “blood and soil.”
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and ordered
protestors to disperse from the area.
A “Unite the Right” rally, expecting up to 6,000 protestors, was planned for Aug.
12 in Emancipation Park by demonstrators who arrived carrying tiki torches, body
armor, and discriminatory propaganda, such as Nazi flags.
Rising tensions between opposing groups led to 20-year-old James Alex Fields, Jr.
plowing into a crowd of counter protestors. Not only did he drive through them, he
put his car in reverse to run through them again. The toll was one dead, 19 injured.
Fields is being held without bond.
Initial lack of media coverage and what appeared to be an insincere apology
from President Trump has resulted in major backlash for both parties.
It seems the media gave no forewarning to the rest of the country about the
decision to remove the statue or the reaction to it, as if they hadn’t known the
protests were planned – given the demonstrators need a permit and go through law
enforcement. Meaning, enough authoritative figures knew the events planned to be
able to inform the public of what was to ensue.
Only when violence erupted and casualties occurred, including two police officers
in a helicopter crash, did the media shift their attention to the chaos.
The situation may have been avoided like the incident at Berkeley College in
California when a planned speech by outspoken conservative, Ann Coulter, was
cancelled due to the amount of controversy it would provoke.
In similar fashion of lacking focus, President Trump has yet to call these white
supremacists just what they are – terrorists. To make matters more interesting, his
statement raised many questions regarding his awareness to the severity to, and his
lack of sympathy for the situation.
In his statement, he describes the events as an, “egregious display of hatred,
bigotry and violence on many sides.” To which he received criticism from members
of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
Once the dust begins to settle and the media moves on to the next headline, who
is to blame for the tragic events happening here at home? Could it be the alt-right
movement for pushing their agenda, or should the government take the blame for
allowing it to escalate so quickly? Or could it be the strong opposition and resistance
movement of the left?
The media plays a hand for not covering the events before it reached this
magnitude and it is not until domestic terrorism gets to its peak that officials begin to
get involved.
These are the issues causing such a rift between generations of all walks of life,
causing our nation to become plagued with controversy.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and
do not necessarily reflect those of The Carolinian, the University of South Carolina
Upstate, or any affiliated institutions.
Did you know?
New service allows free electronic
access to The New York Times
Lucy McElroy
A new service at USC Upstate allows currently enrolled students, staff, and faculty
members free electronic access to The New York Times.
This service is valid for 365 days after creating a free account at AccessNYT.com
and can be accessed on- or off-campus.
Photo by Ryan Kelly
for CNN
First, enter “University of South Carolina Upstate - Spartanburg, SC” in the “Find
School” box. Do not abbreviate. Then, sign up for an account with a USC Upstate
email address. A confirmation email will be sent to the address provided.
Members can view all articles at NYTimes.com freely and have full access
to associated apps. Services available include English, Spanish, and Chinese
translations, podcasts, videos, newsletters, daily 360 content, a virtual reality app,
and a cooking app.
USC Upstate students, staff, and faculty can also access the article archives
dating back to 1851. This service limits users to five archived articles per day.
Photo by Edu Bayer for The New York Times
More information about this service can be found at:
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12 The Carolinian Orientation Issue