Local news sources report:
The Durham County Sheriff’s Office is preparing for a possible march by white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan marching in Durham today.
“The Sheriff’s Office is thoroughly researching the potential of several groups with opposing viewpoints holding demonstrations in Durham,” Sheriff Mike Andrews said in a statement.
“This is partly why the Sheriff’s Office continues to remind demonstrators to first obtain a permit and most importantly, abide by the law. I expect demonstrators to conduct themselves in such a manner that is legal and respectful of the Durham County community. Again, I call upon city and county leaders to establish rules for demonstrators.”
Please, if you are moved to counter-demonstrate (and bravo for that, says I), recall that Durham is sacred ground, the home of the NC-NAACP and its brilliant non-violent resistance movement, Forward Together. Don’t screw that up.
I will be there, standing on the sidewalk, with my back turned to the marchers...both as a statement of my utter loathing for them and to enable me to keep a better eye on our church’s community day school, which stands next to Ground Zero in this dispute.
Opposing violence on anyone’s part is not “moral equivalence.” Neither is worrying about the possibility of violence when fierce enemies come together in one place.
These are the times that try men’s souls.