Jacksonville Democratic Socialists of America Condemns White Supremacist Violence in Our City

The following statement was released by Jacksonville DSA on Monday, August 28th, 2023

The Jacksonville chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America condemns in the harshest possible terms the racially motivated murder of three Jacksonville citizens in an act of white supremacist terror over the weekend.

So far, we know that the shooter first attempted to carry out the attack at Edward Waters University, a local historically black university, but was chased off by campus security. He then drove to a nearby Dollar General and, armed with a legally purchased, slur-covered assault weapon, murdered Angela Michelle Carr, Jerrald Gallion, and Anolt Joseph Laguerre, Jr., simply because of the color of their skin. The shooter left behind a manifesto, proclaiming in no uncertain terms, that the false notions of white supremacy which this country was founded upon served as the inspiration for the attack.

Jacksonville is no stranger to what we witnessed this past weekend. Our city owns a brutal past of slavery, lynchings, redlining, harrassment, intimidation, and racial violence. Just in the past year in Jacksonville, a local neo-Nazi group projected swastikas onto buildings downtown, vigilante neo-Confederates have flown “rebel” flags high over Jaguars games, armed Proud Boys have descended upon drag shows, Lost Cause dead-enders have lobbied City Council…