This morning, after the protest by Burlington, NC-based hate group ACTBAC NC, I’ve seen some of my liberal friends on social media wringing their hands and wondering if there’s a way to diffuse all of the tension around the Confederate statues by keeping them in place with historical markers or other solutions that keep them in place while acknowledging the history.

What many liberals and moderates fail to understand is that they’re being played by white supremacist groups on this.

The statues are - and always have been - symbols of intimidation against minorities, erected during the Jim Crow era when whites were reminding Blacks, through random acts of violence and lynching, who was really “in charge”.

The right-wing group that staged the protest at the former location of ‘Silent Sam’, ACTBAC NC, is publicly telling everyone it’s about “preserving history” and “heritage”.

However, what many people don’t know about this group - and similar ones that are defending these statues - is that they’re descendants of the same violent white supremacists that made up the KKK and neo-Nazi groups in the 1970s. They’re using two common tactics to gaslight the public. They’ve assumed a new name, since “white supremacist” has such negative connotations. Secondly, they’re saying one thing publicly to make themselves look like concerned citizens, while doing quite another in private.

ACTBAC NC is not some innocuous little group of Confederate history buffs. They’re a violent hate group that has physically threatened minority groups and individuals - Blacks, Muslims, immigrants, and gays. Some of the same people that showed up a Charlottesville are part of this group.

ACTBAC NC is using ’Silent Sam’ and the Graham Confederate statue as a recruiting tool and to “normalize” their extremist views with the public. It’s a burgeoning home-grown terrorist organization.

The police and media need to stop viewing these protests as simple political differences. You are being duped.

I’ve posted this before, but I’ll link it again - spend a half hour of your time watching this video to understand the tactics that groups like ACT BAC are using.

If we don’t really recognize these groups as criminal organizations fermenting violence and intimidation and draw a line in the sand, it will lead to another Charlottesville. Or worse.