May Days

Abstract

This chapter recalls Judge Moore's ruling on May 2, 2017, which guaranteed that the statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson would retain their symbolic presence in the city for some time. It mentions Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler, who were not eased by the ruling over the two symbols of the Confederacy and were not about to let the City of Charlottesville off the hook. It also looks into Spencer and Kessler plan for a May rally in Charlottesville that dramatically understate the breadth of their full agenda. The chapter highlights how Charlottesville in 2017 was linked in mind and spirit to the 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden. It traces the history of America regarding its impulse to persecute Jews that has been inextricably intertwined with the impulse to persecute the poor, women, Catholics, Muslims, African Americans, gays, lesbians, and immigrants.