Getting Organized in the Wake of Charlottesville

Jewish Voice for Peace stands unequivocally and emphatically against the white supremacy, antisemitism and fascism on display in Charlottesville this weekend. We join the voices of mourning for Heather Heyer, who was murdered by one of the white supremacist marchers, and for the full recovery of all those injured and traumatized by Saturday's events.

The events in Charlottesville this weekend showed us the violence of white supremacy at its most visceral and blatant. We must work to ensure that our sadness and outrage at what happened in Charlottesville this weekend fuels us to continue the work to fight the less visible of its violent manifestations that harm communities of color everyday.

White supremacy has been ever-present in the history of the United States. The overt pronouncements of antisemitism, nazism, and anti-Black racism at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville were an appalling display of the dangerous ideologies emboldened by the Trump presidency. The response of the local and federal government-from the police who allowed armed and avowed white supremacists to march unimpeded, to the President of the United States, who equated those fighting white supremacy with those promoting it-remind us that we must always rely on our people and our movements to ensure safety for all people. We must confront and challenge state-sponsored and state-tolerated violence at every turn. We must get organized.

We honor and are grateful for all those who stood up so bravely against the attempt to terrorize Black people, Jews, and communities of color in Charlottesville. As a multiracial Jewish organization, we are more committed today than ever to help build the numbers of people standing up and fighting back. We will keep fighting antisemitism, white supremacy and Islamophobia. We will show up for each other wherever we need to be.

To those in our community who are feeling fear we say to you: you are not alone. We are with you, we are here for you. We have each other and need each other.

To those in our community who are feeling despair, we say to you: We are so much bigger, so much stronger, so much more ready and able to build the just world we need.

To those in our community who feel rage, we say to you: let this lead you into the streets, into your power, into communities that will swell with love, commitment, resiliency, and a vision of a world redeemed.

To those of you who are ready to fight we say: let's get organized! #wearethemajority