^Huh, I lived in Austin at that time and don’t recall hearing about the KKK rally! I guess it did get ignored. 
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, it does not make a sound.
I know it as was after 1978 and before 1983 - didn’t get much attention because nothing happened.
If I lived closer to Charlottesville I would have been there yesterday to protest against the white supremacists. And I would support my kids going. I am aware that there are dangers, but there are risks to a lot of things. And honestly I want my family to speak out against injustice.
Me too, @FallGirl. And if my D wanted to go, I would support her in doing so, and would be proud of her for it.
We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. – Martin Luther King, Jr
When I started college it was still fashionable to yell babykiller at people in uniform. We asked about that, and were told that part of the reason to wear that uniform is to protect the speech rights of people whose views were not ours.
A counter protest, unless held in a different location, is an attempt to stop speech not to protect it. That is wrong.
… and will generally lead to violence. Duh.
Of course extreme speech is nasty. I am allowed to resent it. I am not allowed to shut it down (so long as it is actually legal, and most is).
Counter protesting is representing a different voice, not shutting down free speech.
See paper referenced in
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1937241-the-us-is-expected-to-eventually-become-majority-non-white-p1.html
You can also web search for “group status threat” to find more academic studies.
@doschicos Unfortunately I cannot find any evidence better than your gut feel for the increase. I don’t think the rise in official groups means too much though.
@ucbalumnus Could be true, could not be, but I’m hesitant to hang much weight on one survey taken in 2010 cited in someone’s PhD dissertation as solid proof that that is the way the majority of whites think in the here and now. Granted, I didn’t read (and won’t) all 260+ pages of the dissertation but instead looked at the one page you highlighted in your initial post in the other thread.
@yearstogo Wouldn’t call it a “gut feel”. More like a preponderance of evidence based on much reading up on the subject. Why are you so quick to discount what is out there from many sources pointing to a rise? Wishful thinking? Reading from other sources?
The problem is that when counter-protesters are undisciplined and let an abhorrent group get them riled up they allow that group to use their behavior as evidence of what they were trying to say from the beginning. In this case, spitting, bottle and feces throwing, and fistfighting by counter protesters has allowed the White supremacist groups to paint BLM and other groups opposing them as violent. Our own president’s been able to run with the narrative that these are equally culpable groups.
It takes an incredible amount of organization and self-restraint not to take the bait. In the 60’s SNCC and other civil rights groups made sure the people participating in sit ins and other protests were well trained in nonviolent resistance. We need that kind of discipline and training in the counter protests happening these days.
The Westboro Baptist Church used to make a ton of money from lawsuits against municipalities and individuals until counterprotesters learned how to shut them down with peaceful, silent protest. That’s what I’d like to see in places like Charlottesville- crowds of people lining the street, with their backs turned to the marchers and singing nonviolent protest songs.
I do think it’s important to send the massage that these people do not speak for the majority of us. We just have to make sure it’s done in a way that sends the right message-that we are the civilized rational people, and that we won’t let White supremacists steal our voices.
My daughter was also at Auburn during the speech. The scary thing is not the person saying horrible things, it was that I think it was antifa was coming as well. She and everyone she knew just stayed away. I have no problem with people showing up to march and stand up for each other, but when people start bringing guns, knives, gas, throw punches and things go crazy, I just don’t think there is any point to going and being a victim. Sometimes an empty room is way louder.
That last sentence is right on.
Turning the other cheek sure didn’t help much in pre-WW2 Germany and other parts of Europe. As @Sue22 points out, counter protesting is often best done when non-violent but visible.
“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
–Edmund Burke
Modern English version: All that’s needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
There are lots of people who have the luxury and privilege to close their eyes and ears, lock their doors, and hope this all goes away. Personally, I’m not one of those people.
These groups came into Charlottesville on Friday , with torches , assembling unlawfully, marching on the grounds of UVa, a World Heritage site. A group of students and UVa personnel surrounded the statue of Thomas Jefferson. This went way beyond a nut job coming to a college campus to make a speech. These groups are disgusting and I applaud the people in Charlottesville for standing up to them and not staying silent. http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2017/08/torch-wielding-white-nationalists-march-at-uva
Since we’re into quotes - not that I’m a believer in heaven and hell, but interesting 
"One of President Kennedy’s favorite quotations was based upon an interpretation of Dante’s Inferno. As Robert Kennedy explained in 1964, “President Kennedy’s favorite quote was really from Dante, ‘The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.’” This supposed quotation is not actually in Dante’s work, but is based upon a similar one. In the Inferno, Dante and his guide Virgil, on their way to Hell, pass by a group of dead souls outside the entrance to Hell. These individuals, when alive, remained neutral at a time of great moral decision. Virgil explains to Dante that these souls cannot enter either Heaven or Hell because they did not choose one side or another. They are therefore worse than the greatest sinners in Hell because they are repugnant to both God and Satan alike, and have been left to mourn their fate as insignificant beings neither hailed nor cursed in life or death, endlessly travailing below Heaven but outside of Hell. "
https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Fast-Facts/Dante.aspx
Center for Study of Hate & Extremism reports hate crimes up 20% since election.
The only alternative to attending campus protests is doing nothing. Okay.