But we have seen terrible things in our lifetimes, too: wars; terrorism; economic depression, turmoil, and challenges to our basic institutions. All were around in Lincoln’s time, and in fact have been with human civilization for about the entire span of human civilization. We don’t know what Mr. Lincoln would have said about one of our era’s most terrible events – this weekend’s riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, but we think he would have put it in some sort of context, and would have addressed it in honesty, attempted to deal with it in wisdom and love, in hopes that even a horrible tragedy can be a thing that inspires us to understand and to heal.
A brief version of the story: the authorities in Charlottesville determined it was in the best interest of the city to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee; a group of people who objected expressed their opposition to its removal; and a group of people who supported its removal wanted to express their opinions as well. Had everyone had the wisdom, outlook and demeanor of Abraham Lincoln, there would have been a debate without an escalation into violence. Tragically, Mr. Lincoln’s qualities were scarce to be found on that day, for the protest was organized by radicals and the counter protest was organized by radicals. The two groups ended up at the same place at the same time, armed with clubs and sticks and looking for trouble. It was a volatile mix, and in the end a woman, Heather Heyer, who supported the statue’s removal, was killed by a white supremacist who opposed it. Although details are still a bit unclear, he drove his car into a crowd, killing her and injuring nearly thirty others. To make the bad even worse, two State Policemen, monitoring the dangerous situation from a helicopter, lost their lives when it crashed. The man who drove the car was arrested and is being charged with homicide.
The radical, racist right organized the original protest and they were angry and looking for a fight, but the radical left came to the counter-protest looking for a fight, too. The President has been excoriated for saying that both sides were wrong, and we probably will be as well, but both sides were wrong. We don’t know why the law enforcement authorities were not able to keep the groups apart, but the situation grew out of control and the result was the death of three people and a sad, shameful blot on our society. The neo-Nazi white supremacists have been preaching their vile message for far too long, and they should unequivocally be condemned by everyone, including President Trump.
Under the Constitution we have the right peaceably to assemble. We think that means we do not have the right to assemble unpeaceably. The governments of America’s major cities and administrators of our college campuses have forgotten the “peaceable” part of that clause. There should be no room for racism in America, no place for violent protest, no tolerance for people – on all sides (dare we say it?) -- who act out of political hatred. Times such as these require a Lincoln to bring peace. Unfortunately, such people are in short supply.