A couple days ago, the organizer of our local Indivisible chapter announced that there would be a Black Lives Matter march today in the little college town where we live, in western Pennsylvania. I made tentative plans to participate, leaving it up to hubby as to whether he would come, too. (Of course, he ultimately did.)
Yesterday, however, the Indivisible chapter organizer sent another e-mail saying that there would be counter-protesters attending the march as well. Apparently, the town council and the police encouraged her to cancel the march as they feared violence might break out. Keep in mind that western Pennsylvania is where Obama noted that people cling to their Bibles and their guns, and that description is perfectly accurate.
We gathered near the university campus. Hubby had done the lettering for our signs, just as he had done for the USPS support rally last week. I estimate about 50 people showed up for the march, equipped with signs and masks. They ranged in age from young adult to elderly, and we had a couple protesters in wheelchairs as well. The crowd was overwhelmingly white, but two of the handful of Black protesters led the chants as we marched through town…
...where we encountered the counter-protesters. There seemed to be as many of them as there were marchers. I don’t think many of these people were residents of the town per se, but came in from outlying communities, where members of Trump Nation are plentiful. They were all white, mostly male, and middle-aged (Trump’s sweet spot). None were wearing masks, of course. Outside of one of the bars, about 10 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were parked in a line. Their owners started them up and ran their engines at full throttle, unmuffled, to drown out the chants. The noise was deafening.
Various of the counter-protesters declared that there was no racism in the US anymore, and “All lives matter!” and “You drank the Kool-Ade!” We saw men carrying guns, including one semiautomatic. Myself, I was not afraid. Instead, I considered how pathetic these men were, who felt it necessary to bring a gun to a peaceful protest.
Once we had passed the motorcycle gauntlet, hubby and I, as an antidote to the catcalls, starting singing American anthems: “America the Beautiful” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” I refused to engage the counter-protesters, knowing there was no point. I noticed some of the younger marchers cast insults at the counter-protesters, which I thought was dangerous: “I smell incest,” and “These people have never been to the library; they can’t read.” I think it would be useful for them to understand more about the methods of non-violent protest.
Marchers at the library parking lot.
We marched to the local branch of the public library, and after a few speeches, we marched back, again running the gauntlet of gun-toters and Harley-Davidsons. I just thought about John Lewis on the Edmond Pettus Bridge and figured we got off relatively easy. After all that, I devoted the afternoon to getting my labs ready for next week and had an extremely productive day.
Here’s a link to a news report on the march:
Erie News Now | WICU & WSEE in Erie, PA
P. S. I turned 61 today. Comments below the fold.
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