If anything good has come of Trump's flagrant racism and brazen bigotry, it's that we now know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what we're dealing with and exactly where we stand. Now that all the 'dog whistle' politics and coded ambiguity is out of the way, we can operate from a place of power and take matters into our own hands. In response to the events in Charlottesville, the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) is doing just that. "As more information about the events in Charlottesville becomes available, it is clear that the response from President Trump has been inadequate and disappointing,” New Haven, Connecticut Mayor, Toni Harp said in a statement. “If we cannot count on this Administration to unequivocally disavow such vile hate groups, state and local governments must lead the way."
As President of the AAMA, Harp announced the organization's five-point plan to stand against hate. “I urge all mayors and governors to adopt AAMA's five point response plan which calls for: the immediate removal of Confederate and Nazi symbols; the removal from federal office Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller whose ideological extremism emboldens white supremacists; the provision of additional resources for law enforcement to identify hate groups; all corporations to stop the dissemination of tools of hate on their platforms; and for all public officials to disavow hate and racial violence as a prerequisite for running for office.”
The Charlottesville Five-Point Response Plan For Cities is as follows:
1. Confederate and Nazi Symbols
We urge all cities and state legislatures to remove symbols of the Confederacy, Nazism, and other white supremacist groups from public spaces, which serve the joint purpose of intimidating citizens and emboldening such hate groups. We commend the cities of New Orleans, Baltimore, Lexington and others that have taken swift action.
2. Federal Action
We call on President Trump to remove Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller for their ideological extremism that emboldens white supremacist and other hate groups; fully restore Countering Violent Extremism funds to combat white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and launch a coordinated federal effort in conjunction with local law enforcement officials to eliminate the growing threat from white supremacists.
3. Resources for Law Enforcement
We call on the federal government and local elected officials to direct additional law enforcement resources to the identification and elimination of white supremacist, neo-Nazis and other hate groups and related incidences of violence; and additional training of police officers for crowd and protest management.
4. Corporate Accountability
We call for a boycott of companies and vendors that advertise on radical websites and we urge all elected officials to work with influential companies to address ways to limit the influence of hate groups on their platforms. We commend companies such as Airbnb that have taken affirmative actions against white supremacist causes on their platforms.
5. Get out and vote in 2018
We encourage all eligible persons to get registered to vote and demand any person running elected office promote the causes of equality and justice and disavow hate and racial violence as a prerequisite for running for office.