More than 100 people attended a rally in Halifax on Tuesday evening in solidarity with Charlottesville, Va. following events there this weekend.
The event was hosted by the group Autonomy East and began at 6:30 p.m.
It included a moment of silence for Heather Heyer — who died when a 20-year-old drove his car into a line of marchers — as well as speeches by community members, including the experiences of racialized communities in the province.
Tuesday’s rally comes days after the college town of Charlottesville saw violent clashes at a white supremacist rally that culminated in an act of suspected terrorism when a man rammed his car into counter-protesters. A woman died as a result, and dozens of others were injured.
READ MORE: Rally in ‘solidarity with Charlottesville’ to be held at Halifax’s Cornwallis statue
Brad Vaughan, a member of Autonomy East, said Monday the rally was prompted by calls for such solidarity rallies in the days following the unrest. Several such gatherings have already taken place across the country and others are still planned for later this week.
Alongside showing solidarity with those in Charlottesville and other parts of North America, one of the rally organizers said there was also a second purpose.
“In Charlottesville, white nationalists mobilized around a statue of Robert E. Lee. They use these public symbols of historical white violence as an organizing tool, and we have one of those right here.”
Alex Khasnabish, an associate professor at Mount Saint Vincent University, attended the rally and said holding the rally in response to Charlottesville is “hugely important.”
He said it’s key to show support for those pushing back “against this really odious, violent, vicious rise in white supremacy and white nationalism.” Khasnabish said such “tendencies” are being seen not only in the U.S. but also in Canada.
“We have seen that kind of violence here obviously just recently in Quebec for example, in the mosque shooting. We see the rise in that kind of politics here, and we have to take a strong stand against it,” he said.
The rally took place at the statue of Edward Cornwallis, which has stirred controversy for several years and was recently a focal point when protesters said they would remove the statue of Halifax’s founder.
Instead, the municipality covered the statue with a tarp and Mayor Mike Savage read a declaration and put forward the demands by protesters to Halifax Regional Council.
READ MORE: Hate crime in Canada: do our laws allow a white nationalist rally?
Cornwallis founded Halifax in 1749 and shortly after issued a bounty on Mi’kmaq scalps in response to an attack on colonists. The Mi’kmaq have been calling for the removal of tributes to Cornwallis, some calling his actions a form of genocide.
Khasnabish said in Halifax and in Canada, there is a history of Canadian “settler colonialism.”
“I think the historical continuities can’t be any clearer. It isn’t about erasing or forgetting history, it isn’t about denying the complexity or nuance of that history … it is about acknowledging which Canadians have yet to do actually, that we live on unceded, surrendered territory in many cases,” he said. “But also that we have an account to settle with the First Peoples of these territories and other folks too.”
El Jones, former poet laureate for Halifax, performed a spoken-word piece during the rally about the Cornwallis statue, police street checks in the municipality, and the “alt-right” movement.
Jones reiterated Khasnabish’s views, saying racist views are not confined to the U.S.
“I think we’ve definitely seen not only that there’s been a huge emboldenment of white supremacist groups and of extreme groups but that extremist rhetoric is being normalized as though it’s not extreme,” she said. “You see this kind of rhetoric that’s been mainstream and normalized and so it’s very important that we recognize that this isn’t normal, this isn’t acceptable, it’s not merely just another opinion. This is dangerous stuff.”
Halifax police told Global News on Monday they were aware of the rally and would be monitoring the event and respond accordingly.
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