Backlash to racism and white nationalism starts at home Charlotte leaders take on alt-right, Trump

Unconvinced federal authorities will call out white nationalism, Charlotte's social and political leaders are taking up the cause.

At a Monday press conference at Little Rock AME Zion Church, civil rights, community and clerical activists took turns condemning violence in Charlottesville, Virginia that resulted in the deaths of three people. Neo-Nazi, "alt-right" and white nationalist groups clashed with counter-protesters during a "Unite the Right" parade in Charlottesville's downtown.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP President Rev. Corine Mack referred to President Donald Trump's placing blame "on both sides" for the Virginia melee.

"It hurts, because as an African American woman born and raised in Harlem USA we saw so much of the same," she said. "And unfortunately, many citizens thought we were past that, but here we are in 2017 dealing with the very same hate and death and destruction as we dealt with in the '50 and ‘60s."

State Sen. Joel Ford, a Democrat running for Charlotte mayor, took Trump to task for providing moral authority to rally the nation.

"You see the president of the United States has made it clear that under his leadership he will not lead in condemning the white nationalist movement," he said. "Hatred has had a deadly impact on our country, most recently in Charlottesville. To say you are against white supremacy and not against the policy that embolden that movement is hypocrisy."

Responses across North Carolina have been swift. In Durham, protesters hauled down a Confederate monument to protest white nationalism and Gov. Roy Cooper suggested the state look to remove them.

"Some people cling to the belief that the Civil War was fought over states' rights," Cooper wrote in an online post in Medium. "But history is not on their side. We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery. These monuments should come down.

"Our Civil War history is important, but it belongs in textbooks and museums – not a place of allegiance on our Capitol grounds. And our history must tell the full story, including the subjugation of humans created in God's image to provide the back-breaking labor that drove the South's agrarian economy."

U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, a Charlotte Republican who said the perpetrators of the Virginia violence should be held fully responsible and accountable," criticized the Durham demolition.

"The anarchy displayed in Durham should be condemned by all who cherish the rule of law and the spirit of Martin Luther King," he said in a statement. "The despicable, reprehensible hatred displayed by white supremacists in Charlottesville has no place in America, but we cannot drive out that hate with more violence."

U.S. Rep. Alma Adams took a swipe at hate groups and Trump's tepid condemnation.

"The hate and violence we've witnessed in Virginia is reprehensible and has no place in our society," she said. "As a nation, we are better than this. It's time we come together to stand up and boldly stamp out bigotry and hate.

"The president's unwillingness to forcefully condemn the actions of these white supremacists is unacceptable."