An Allegory on Charlottesville & Beyond

Nancy White Cassidy, MFA

Introduction

When Trump was nominated for President, and later elected as the most powerful man on the planet, I, along with millions of other Americans and our allies, experienced a sense of dread and apprehension. After all, we saw how that man acted at his rallies: abusing protesters, reporters and anyone on whom he decided to focus his wrath. The country was fast spiraling into turmoil and the worst of the worst decided this was THEIR moment to show just how displeased they were with our country.

Then came the evening August 11, 2017. The “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville on the campus of the University of Virginia. Hundreds of young white men, carrying tiki torches, marched through the streets, denouncing anyone they perceived to have taken away the rights of white people.

This sent a chill through me. I was born after WWII, but grew up with the images of Hitler and his supporters, acting in a similar manner, focusing their wrath on the Jews, Muslims, gays, free-thinkers and anyone else they perceived as a threat. There were far too many similarities with the pro-Hitler marches and what just happened in Charlottesville that August evening.

Toward the end of 2019, I was invited to participate in an exhibit of work by women artists at the Leura Eastman Arts Center at Fryeburg Academy in Fryeburg, Maine, entitled, “Strong Women Move Mountains”. The emphasis was on how the influence of women can and do change societies, which have, historically, been dominated by males. I started to think about what I should create. And I thought of Charlottesville: those hundreds of misguided and angry young men with their distorted, hate-etched faces, carrying their Nazi tiki torches. Images began to appear in my head. I started to paint what became a three-part series.

Conflagration

Conflagration (n)
con·​fla·​gra·​tion | \ ˌkän-flə-ˈgrā-shən \

1: Fire, especially : a large disastrous fire
2: Conflict or war

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With the images of torches still fresh in my mind, I knew I had to include fire in my first painting. But how to portray that memory? I didn’t want to show that rally the way news photographers captured it, but wanted it to be anyone who may have decided to show their wrath in this manner. It could also be those who riot and throw Molotov cocktails into buildings or vehicles. This wrath isn’t just confined to the angry white men with faces distorted with hate. It’s anyone who rejects diplomacy, reason, and clarity, and who reacts to propaganda instead.

I decided not to show faces or bodies. Instead, I depicted balls of fire as in a ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ type of way: raining down from the heavens.

Frightening, lethal, relentless and deadly.

Reevaluation

re-evaluation(n)
rē-​i-​ˌval-​yə-​ˈwā-​shən

The process or act of judging or calculating the quality, importance, amount, or value of something for a second, third, etc. time.

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Every time an event like Charlottesville occurs, there always seems to be a period of reflection. How did this happen? Who organized this march? What can be done to prevent this from happening again? All valid questions. And most often, there is no answer. The event is pushed aside because of other events dominating the American attention. But it became clear that the “Unite the Right” rally was not a spontaneous event, and in the years to follow, Americans realized that tiki-torch neo-Nazi parade was just the prelude to other more violent events, culminating with the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Americans are realizing they are facing the possible demise of our democracy.

It’s time for re-evaluation. It’s time to hold those accountable for organizing and instigating those acts. But it’s also time for Americans to work together towards the common good.

My painting, Reevaluation, depicts the fires dying, leaving behind smoke and clouds but also the promise of a better tomorrow.

Regeneration

Regeneration(n)
ri-ˌje-nə-ˈrā-shən

1: an act or the process of regenerating : the state of being regenerated
2: spiritual renewal or revival
3: renewal or restoration of a body, bodily part, or biological system (such as a forest) after injury or as a normal process
4: utilization by special devices of heat or other products that would ordinarily be lost

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As I write this essay in October of 2022, the healing of our nation has yet to begin. However, accountability is underway. Hundreds of insurrectionists have been arrested, many have been sentenced, which will lead the way to holding those in power accountable for the attack on our country from our own citizens. Only once accountability has been established may we begin the task of ‘regeneration’.

There is much in need of rebuilding, not only within the structures of our society, but with our brothers and sisters with backgrounds different than our own. The wealth gap, which started during the Reagan era through ‘trickle down economics’ has set the stage for crippling inequality in society and around the world, and inequality that eventually will threaten our actual existence on the planet.

Our very survival will depend on working together, to bring not only America out of our existential crisis, but the rest of the world as well. Most of the crisis on earth today are man made: famine in Sudan, the war in Ukraine, the political divisions in America, climate change and the pollution of the most important element on earth: water.

In this final painting, I depict a flight of doves, spiraling from high above our planet, through the fires of Conflagration, the clouds and smoke of Reevaluation into the direction of Earth.

What do the doves symbolize?

Purity. Holiness. Innocence. Peace.

I also believe the doves are representative of the female energy. Women are leading the way to create opportunities, to mend fences, to work towards peace. We will see this in our lifetime. The will is there.