Charlottesville Tragedy

Charlottesville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, home to the University of Virginia and also, to the third and fifth U.S. Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe respectively.

Due to the recent removal of some of the confederate icon statues all over the United States and the approval of the city council on February 2017 to bring down or to relocate the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, sparked cries and protest organized by the white nationalist in the City of Charlottesville on August 11, Friday. On the next day, August 12, protesters gathered again and clashed with counter-demonstrators. Two hours after a declaration of a local state of emergency by the City of Charlottesville and the county of Albemarle, a speeding car rammed into counter-demonstrators that resulted into the death of a woman and injured over thirty people. The car fled the scene but the suspect was arrested later.

“It was a reprehensible display of racism and hatred”, Senator Bernie Sanders.

Racism and hatred to black Americans was dominant before in the United States, they were treated as slaves and no rights in the society.

In the Philippines, this kind of setting also exists, but with the judgement of one’s culture and religion to another. Due to the existing war and some terror groups in the Middle East, far right groups in the Philippines consisting of people who were identified as Muslim people was also labeled as terrorist. This affects the whole Muslim population in the Philippines. It generates hate and labelling to the general Muslim population by non-Muslim people as they were always seen as by them as troublemakers and was treated as bad people by the majority of the population.

Misconceptions with certain norms, values, culture, and religion can be tolerated with the idea of understanding one’s belief, practices, and religion based on that person’s own culture, rather than judging one based on the other. It is called Cultural Relativism.

With this kind of idea, we can help prevent this kind of tragedy to occur again. We can live quietly, in order and equally. We extend our prayers and sympathy for the families and the victims of the Charlottesville tragedy.

References
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4238060/general-robert-e-lee-charlottesville/
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-14/the-history-of-the-statue-behind-the-white-supremacist-rally/8803430
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/13/us/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-car-crash/index.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/charlottesville-attack-170813081045115.html