Merced residents have a message for the KKK

Advocates and residents rallied together in support of unity and inclusion on Sunday afternoon, sending the message that hatred, violence and inequality aren’t welcome in the community.

“We want to start building a community of people working to tackle issues of social justice,” said rally organizer Jessica Dimpel.

More than a few dozen people stood by the busy intersection of R Street and Olive Avenue in Merced. Drivers honked their horns as they buzzed by protestors who held up signs and chanted, “No hate, no KKK, no fascist USA.”

“We are going to love you out of the city,” said Necola Adams, another rally organizer.

Racism is something that is still alive and visible in Merced, Adams said, and often times people aren’t aware of it “because if it doesn’t happen to you, you don’t see it.”

Just last year, Adams said, when she was the only black candidate running for mayor of Merced, her campaign signs were slashed, set on fire and stolen. The vandalism wasn’t happening to any other candidates’ signs, she said. “What does that tell you?”

“That was sending me a message,” Adams said.

Merced is still a “very segregated” place, Adams said, and the Central Valley is home to white supremacist leaders, and many people don’t want to address those issues. After the Trump administration was in power, she said, it gave white supremacist groups a green light and empowered them to evoke hatred and violence, like the attacks on protestors in Charlottesville.

“Racism isn’t a condition; it’s a culture,” she said. “It breeds and feeds.”

Adams said Sunday’s rally is to show that people in Merced are “working as one” and that “Merced is about love and inclusion.”

Alejandro Carrillo, 25, said he joined protestors to send the message of unity and said “it’s great Merced is taking a stand and I wanted to be a part of it.”

In Merced, there are still reports of bullying and racism against minority groups, Carrillo said, and “it’s time to call out racism and stand united.”

Carrillo said it’s one of the first times that millennials have the opportunity to stand up for what they believe in, especially in the current political climate, where white supremacist groups feel they have a national platform to hate on other groups of people.

This story was originally published August 20, 2017 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Merced residents have a message for the KKK."