Local leaders preach tolerance, action during local anti-hate vigil

In a North Naples church, residents and local social justice leaders lit candles and mourned for people affected by the violence of a white nationalist rally in Virginia over the weekend.

More than 150 people attended an anti-hate vigil Monday night at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples in response to the events that unfolded in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a Unite the Right protest that turned violent and ended in one death and several injuries.

"We are appalled by the display of hate and bigotry in Charlottesville," said Jeffrey Feld, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Collier County. "We are horrified and sickened by the messages that were spewed. But we must stand together as people who believe in the good of mankind."

Every seat in the church was taken, and dozens of people lined the walls and spilled out into the reception area.

Sharon Nicholson, a Unitarian Universalist congregant and Bonita Springs resident, said she attended Monday's vigil to show love and support at a time when there seems to be little of it.

"We don't do hate here," Nicholson said. "We do love and inclusion. My heart broke at the news. And when our president gave his first talk — whatever that was — my heart split open even more. We cannot have this kind of hate toward anyone in the United States. We all have to work hard against it. If our president won't, we have to do it ourselves."

Many in the crowd talked about how the ideologies and actions seen during the white nationalist rally don't represent the founding values of the United States. 

"Whites may have been among the first immigrants here, but they came here just like others did," said Lucas Benitez, a founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. "We can't let one group of close-minded people who think only one race belongs here divide the country."

Leaders implored the crowd to stand up against racism and defend anyone they see is treated unjustly.

"If you think your work is done by being here, it's not," said the Rev. Tony Fisher, of Unitarian Universalist.

Akita Cannon, president of the Citizen's Foster Care Review Board and former executive director of the NAACP, got the crowd riled up with an impassioned speech about putting an end to white supremacy and racism through self-reflection, taking action and defending others who are discriminated against. 

"Wrong and evil has no color," Cannon said. "Righteousness and justice should have no color, either."