TO THE EDITOR:
The idea that a protest against fascists is a boon to fascism is plainly fallacious and wrongheaded. It is an untruth essentially akin to saying that fire will make you colder and drinking water will make you thirstier. To buy into this kind of thinking is to simultaneously self immolate and die of thirst.
Last week, a group of anti-fascist activists took to the steps of South Building to protest the cadre of white supremacists who were supposed to protest at the exact same time. Interestingly, the white supremacists did not show up. The activists made their voice heard, and made it heard loudly. As a result, the right-wing group was not given a unchallenged platform from which to spew their doctrine of intolerance and violence.
By responding openly to the fascists, the fascists were silenced. This protest, along with the recent demands of the G17 faculty collective, has spurred Chancellor Folt to more seriously consider removing Silent Sam, going so far as to asking Roy Cooper to petition to remove of the confederate monument.
The protest successfully countered hate speech and physical intimidation. The protestors matched rhetoric with action to fight for the inclusivity so long denied them. It’s easy to criticize defensive action when you yourself are not the target of hate speech.
Inaction never leads to action. It just might, however, lead to fascism. This is a time worn truth, and we should just as soon forget as we should forgo drinking water to slake our thirst.
Richard Denton
First-year
Comparative Literature and History
