Jesse Jackson Sr.: Message to racists: You will not defeat us
An American hero, Heather Heyer is never far from my thoughts, my prayers and my gratitude for her service to our country.
A year has passed since she was killed in Charlottesville, Virginia, when neo-Nazis, Klansmen and other white supremacists invaded the city, chanting, "Jews will not replace us."
Heather died standing up for love over hate, justice over oppression, inclusion and equality over racism and anti-Semitism.
There was a time when racism, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., put it, was "the black man's burden and the white man's shame." For far too many these days, the white man's shame is a source of pride, arrogance and danger.
On Sunday - a year to the day that Heather was mowed down by a neo-Nazi, using his car as a weapon - hundreds of white supremacists are expected to descend on Washington, D.C. to hold another "Unite the Right" rally, this time across the street from the White House.
The audacity of racists. They feel empowered and protected by the White House. It's no wonder. President Donald Trump has encouraged their vile and aggressive behavior.
Since the tragedy in Charlottesville, children, as a matter of government policy, have been swept from the arms of their parents and put in cages. Since Charlottesville, Trump has referred to African nations as "s-hole countries." Since Charlottesville, he has used sincere, nonviolent protests by African-American football players and other athletes as a weapon of mass division. Since Charlottesville, Trump has done nothing to heal the breach.
We owe it to Heather - and to the two Virginia state police troopers, Berke Bates and H. Jay Cullen, who also died that day - to continue the nonviolent fight against bigotry. We cannot sit on the sidelines as racism again finds a comfort zone.
We must register and vote in massive numbers for the midterm elections on Nov. 6 and send a loud and clear message to the racists, haters and their enablers: Never again.
There are too many of us - black, white, red, brown and yellow, Jewish, Muslim and Christian, gay and straight.
We are what American looks like.
You will not defeat us.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is the founder of Rainbow PUSH Coalition, headquartered in Chicago.