On Sunday, August 13th, nearly 1,000 people gathered at Hotel Congress to fight against racism and white supremacy in response to the white supremacists in Charlottesville, VA. The group marched to Islamic Center of Tucson, the African American Student Affairs Center, and the Hillel Foundation. The march began at 4:30pm and ended around 6:00pm. Those who organized the march stated that they wanted “to express our love and support for our wonderful, diverse community.”

Throughout the march, citizens chanted various phrases like,“One, two, three, four, we don’t want your hate no more,” as well as, “People united, will never be divided,” and, “No KKK, no fascist USA.”

Kandice Pena, a participant in the march said, “I believe that hate in any form is unacceptable.” She, as well as many others, were disgusted by the occurrence in Charlottesville the day before.

Estelle Stern-Eilers is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and has expressed her fear that history may be repeating itself. She said, “I’m very concerned that not more people are standing up. I think Nazi-ism is something that cannot be taken lightly.”

Sofia Brouse, SHS senior, went to the march and said she was there to “support her community and listen to a woman speak about discrimination and how it has effected everyone around her.” Sofia believes that all lives matter and thinks it’s important to accept people for who they are.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as excited as their Tucson counterparts. One person dressed head-to-toe in black clothing and only had his eyes visible through the outfit. A black flag propped on his shoulder. Police officers were quick to ask him to remove himself from the traffic lane.

President Donald Trump spoke on the manner and said, “You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent.” He was later criticized by many after some said that he was blaming both sides for the problem.

Source: Tucson News Now, CNN