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Image: INQUIRER.net stock photo
After a white nationalist rally turned violent on Aug. 11, opinions on the protest have flooded social media.
Hundreds of white supremacists had flocked to the University of Virginia to protest the removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee, who was pro-slavery during the country’s civil war.
Counter-protesters who included people of color and white people against racial discrimination made their voices heard.
Tension rose and violence ensued after a white supremacist rammed a car, killing one person and injuring 19 others.
While opinions have been divided, what has resonated most on Twitter was one post by former US President Barack Obama.
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…” pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
America’s first black president posted a photo of himself smiling with children of various ethnicities. His caption read: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…”
The quote is taken from the autobiography of former South African president and activist Nelson Mandela, “A Long Walk to Freedom.”
The photo was taken by former White House photographer Pete Souza at a daycare center in Maryland.
The tweet, posted on Aug. 13 at 8 a.m., has garnered 3 million likes and 2.1 million shares.
His subsequent tweets have raked in over 1 million likes each, which continues Mandela’s quote: “People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love…For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
In comparison, his successor Donald Trump, who is vocal on Twitter, has been mum online on the issue.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides—on many sides,” was the President’s official statement at a press conference.
Trump has since drawn flak as he seemed to fail to recognize the bigotry that prompted the protests. /ra
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