24 Hours in Charlottesville

An Oral History of the Stand Against White Supremacy

A gripping oral history of the white nationalist riots that shook the nation and signaled the arrival of a galvanizing new era, giving unprecedented voice to those who fought back.

Author: Nora Neus
Product Code: 3221
ISBN: 9780807011928
Format: Hardback
Publisher: Beacon Press
Pages: 192

Published Date: 07/18/2023
Availability:In stock

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Price: $25.95

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The August 2023 Justice and Spirit: Unitarian Universalist Book Club selection.

On August 11 and 12, 2017, armed neo-Nazi demonstrators descended on the University of Virginia campus and downtown Charlottesville. When they assaulted antiracist counterprotesters, the police failed to intervene, and events culminated in the murder of counterprotestor Heather Heyer.

In this book, Emmy-nominated CNN journalist and former Charlottesville resident Nora Neus crafts an extraordinary account from the voices of the students, faith leaders, politicians, and community members who were there. Through a vivid collage of original interviews, new statements from Charlottesville mayor Mike Signer and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, social media posts, court testimony, and government reports, this book portrays the arrival of white supremacist demonstrators, the interfaith service held in response, the tiki torch march on the university campus, the protests and counterprotests in downtown Charlottesville the next day, and the deadly car attack. 24 Hours in Charlottesville will also feature never-before-disclosed information from activists and city government leaders, including Charlottesville mayor Mike Signer.

Contents

Maps of Charlottesville
Author’s Note
Cast of Characters

PART 1: WARNING FLARES
ONE
“This isn’t just a bunch of weird LARPers on some dark corner of the internet.”
TWO
“Take away the permit, bad people are coming.”

PART 2: THE RIOTS
THREE
“Is somebody going to respond to this? Because this sounds really bad.”
FOUR
“We have a tip that something is going to happen on Grounds.”
FIVE
“These are racist people carrying torches.”
SIX
“If they could have killed us all right then, they would have.”
SEVEN
“Does this change what we’re going to do tomorrow?”
EIGHT
“We need to go confront literal Nazis.”
NINE
“This is fucked up as a football bat.”
TEN
“I remember thinking, Somebody is going to die today.”
ELEVEN
“It seemed like war in downtown Charlottesville.”
TWELVE
“It turned into an all-out battle.”
THIRTEEN
“Call the state of emergency.”
FOURTEEN
“It was like the resistance camp at the end of the world.”
FIFTEEN
“I heard a car revving.”
SIXTEEN
“I always wondered: Was she afraid? Did she see him coming?”
SEVENTEEN
“Where were the cops? How did this happen?”
EIGHTEEN
“Senseless deaths for a rally that should have never happened.”

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

“At last, a narrative that pulls together unheard voices and events from Charlottesville’s Summer of Hate, giving insight, warts and all.” —Susan Bro, mother of Heather Heyer

“Astonishing new details on an event that might very well be considered a turning point in our American century. I walked away in awe over how much I learned about Charlottesville. This work by Nora Neus feels like something people will both need and want to read.” —John Berman, CNN anchor