Leann Jacobsen is running against Steve King for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. Learn more: www.LeannJacobsen.com.
This weekend’s events in Charlottesville, Virginia were not only horrific, but heartbreaking.
A group of neo-Nazis and white nationalists marched on the University of Virginia's campus, where we witnessed violent demonstrations that were propelled by hate speech and racism. In times like these, we look to our elected officials, especially those in the highest of offices.
But President Donald Trump took 48 hours to make the most basic of statements condemning the bigotry and hate. Then just a few minutes ago walked it back and blamed “both sides” for the violence. Meanwhile, Congressman Steve King has chosen to dismiss the acts of domestic terrorism all together.
Instead of condemning those responsible for the sickening events this past weekend, Steve King spun the conversation to be about confederate memorials from 150 years ago. King tweeted, “American history is to be learned and understood, not erased,” with an article written by former U.S. Rep. Allen West.
This weekend and the days following have not just been about statues. It has become about the hatred and racism we saw in our streets, and the type of country we want to be tomorrow. These statues belong in museums so we can learn about our history and grapple with how its legacy reverberates in the present.
But, it’s not enough to say you “deplore any type of Supremacy,” especially when King has already made his views on race totally clear. He declared on MSNBC that white people have contributed more to Western Civilization than any other group of people and had a confederate flag displayed on his desk during a story for Sioux City’s KCAU TV.
And, with an agenda heavy on lies about illegal votes and laws intended to disenfranchise people, his words are empty anyway.
There are not two sides to this issue like Donald Trump first stated. Let’s not pretend, those white men in swastika armbands don’t just care about statues. They cared about building a country that excludes everyone who doesn’t look or think like them.
Whether or not they mean to, Trump and King give those people hope that their agenda can succeed in our country today.
As Democrats and Republicans, we can and should disagree on tax rates or how to provide health care, but when we don’t speak in one loud, unified voice against hate and division, then we will cease to be the greatest nation on earth. Together, we need to show them all that bigotry will not succeed.
Right now, we mourn the victims, including the family of Heather Heyer who was killed and the families of the police officers who died in the helicopter crash. We need to come together and do the hard work necessary to heal wounds old and new.