We mourn the loss of human life in Charlottesville. We mourn the death of Heather Heyer, who joined other courageous individuals to stand up for human dignity and counter-protest the terrifying display of far right white supremacist power. But we must do more than mourn to honor them. We must stand up to white supremacist power at every turn.

White supremacy has always been with us, it is the stain we carry since the founding of this country. It remains with us beyond the egregious and abhorrent display of power and violence seen in Charlottesville. It is with us when our public resources get privatized and when communities are denied access to their most basic needs like education, health care, housing and more. It is a shape shifter, that is part of its power and potency.

With the election of President Trump, white supremacists have only become emboldened. We have seen a resurgence of anti-Semitism, anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. We too must become emboldened in our calls for a new social contract, one that rights the wrongs of racial domination to build a truly inclusive democracy and economy that meets the human rights of all its communities.