1. This fluid construction is derivative of the constructive vision that Bryant, in his capacity as Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, provides for our complex and rich College identity: Communication as Art and Art as Communication.
2. Elsewhere, we have explored José Esteban Muñoz's conceptualization of potentiality as a framework for understanding the performance of self and the performance of self-with-others. See Bryant Keith Alexander and Michele Hammers, “An Invitation to Rhetoric: A Generative Dialogue on Performance, Possibility, and Feminist Potentialities in Invitational Rhetoric,” Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies (2017): OnlineFirst, DOI:10.1177/1532708617734011.
3. Up-front caveat—this is only a partial narrative, as all narratives are, of the events and aftermath of the tragedy. “Unite the Right” brought together an amalgam of groups representing the alt-right's white nationalist and white supremacist positions. Anti-Semitic attitudes were prominently on display. A National Public Radio interview characterizes “Unite the Right” as “a patchwork of different alt-right groups attempting to show a unified front.” See “‘Unite the Right’: Charlottesville Rally Represented Collection Of Alt-Right Groups,” Interview with George Hawley, by Audie Cornish, All Things Considered, 15 August 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/08/15/543730227/unite-the-right-charlottesville-rally-represented-collection-of-alt-right-groups. The counterprotest began to take shape when a group called “Solidarity CVille” drew attention to the planned “Unite the Right” rally. Within the broad spectrum of counterprotestors, attention has been focused on antifa—an activist organization dedicated to the direct confrontation of fascist (and other alt-right) groups. Antifa's direct-confrontation practices are often viewed as contributing factors when violence occurs at protest/counterprotest clashes.
4. Debates, fueled at least in part by Donald Trump's comments about the “alt-left's” shared responsibility for the Charlottesville events, have seen both sides mustering arguments and firsthand accounts to frame the “other” as being at fault for the violence. From the perspective of the counterprotestors, one important contributing factor was the prominent display of firearms by the “Unite the Right” demonstrators. Matt Pearce of the Los Angeles Times cites Buzzfeed news reporter Blake Montgomery's description of the “Unite the Right” demonstrators “[arriving] like a paramilitary force—carrying shields, protective gear, rods, and, yes, lots of guns.” See Matt Pearce, “Who Was Responsible for the Violence in Charlottesville? Here's What Witnesses Say,” Los Angeles Times, 15 August 2017, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-charlottesville-witnesses-20170815-story.html.
5. First posted on 16 August 2017, The New York Times provides an online summary of Confederate monuments across the nation that have been taken down in the aftermath of Charlottesville. See “Confederate Monuments Are Coming Down across the United States. Here's a List,” The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/16/us/confederate-monuments-removed.html.