Listen to Kristin’s Story

“If we're willing to fight white supremacy when it came marching in khakis with Confederate flags, we have to be willing to fight it when it's part of how we live. And people in Charlottesville have been doing just that.”

- Kristin Szakos

Kristen Szakos 

These words were written on Fourth Street on August 13th, 2017. They've long since been washed away by rain, but I'm finding them particularly compelling now, five years later, because I'm beginning to believe that our community's fight was not in vain. My name is Kristen Szakos. I'm a writer and editor, and I was on city council in 2017. Some people said I was to blame for the violence of that summer because I had been calling for the removal of Confederate monuments since 2012, and that I brought Charlottesville to the attention of right wing white supremacists. Others said I was to blame because as a city councilor, a representative of city government, I didn't do enough to stop the violence or to protect our citizens from the hate-filled mob. Three people died. Dozens were injured and countless others were traumatized by the events of August 2017. For a long time I found it incredibly hard to talk about it or to try to make any sense of what had happened. But increasingly, over the years, I've been drawn to find some kind of lesson, some good, some kind of healing of the wounds of our community. Before that summer, a lot of folks felt that Charlottesville was pretty close to perfect. They were comfortable and happy. They saw their values reflected in city policies. They welcomed visitors from all over the world to see the wonders of our scenic area, the brilliance of Thomas Jefferson, the beauty of our city. They were resistant to any change that might threaten that comfort or that beauty. But others knew that all was not perfect. People struggled to be heard to find living wage work, to afford housing, to be safe from harassment and violence. They needed change. And soon. Thanks to the work of our community’s activists, along with a national movement that saw Charlottesville Summer of Hate as a turning point, many more people in our community now have come to understand that white supremacy isn't just about marching Nazis from out of town. It's baked into our zoning, our laws and policing, our ways of doing business. And if we're willing to fight white supremacy when it came marching in khakis with Confederate flags, we have to be willing to fight it when it's part of how we live. And people in Charlottesville have been doing just that. From Wes Bellamy's reparations package when I was still on council, that changed how the city supports Black businesses and cultural events, to widespread support for the new Land Use Map and Comprehensive Plan that would increase density and provide more affordable housing options in the city——our community is opening its eyes to our own injustices and we're beginning the important work to address them. It's not easy and it's far from done, but if we can keep our eyes open and not give up, our fight will not be in vain.

Music credit: Joseph Beg / Reflexions / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com