One day after neo-Nazis stormed through the streets of Columbus, Ohio, carrying Nazi flags along with racial slurs, a group of Black community leaders organized a unity march to make a statement.
Senior pastor at Columbus’ Union Grove Baptist Church, Rev. Derrick Holmes, said he received calls from churchgoers in a panic, as people dressed in all black with red masks, carrying black flags with swastikas on them, yelled for them to “bow down, n***a!” while walking down the streets of the state’s capital city. Holmes heard fear in the voices of his congregation members.
“Two members were actually in the Short North area while that was happening, and their prevailing feeling was fear,” he said. “There was a feeling of sadness. They’re older so it really harkened them back to a time they thought the country had graduated from.”
With his community members in mind, Holmes tapped service organization The 100 Black Men of Central Ohio to organize a counter-rally on Nov. 17. Also partnering with attorney Sean Walton Jr., dozens of men walked side by side, down North High Street dressed in all black.
Walton identified the goal as “redirecting them with unity and love” after “our Black women, children and anyone else” were fearful of what they witnessed. “I think there was a lot of focus on the fear. What we did Sunday changed the tone of the entire weekend. If anything, this has made us stronger,” Walton said.
“I think it was a test, in a sense, when it comes to whether we can come together in the face of threats to our civil rights, our human rights and our way of life.”
The spotlight was shined on Ohio during the 2024 election cycle after Vice President-elect JD Vance made false claims of Haitian migrants eating and stealing pets in the town of Springfield, approximately 45 minutes from Columbus. Even though the city manager professed that no claims had been made to local authorities, Vance repeatedly stood behind them on the national stage, eventually coming out of the mouth of now-President-elect Donald Trump during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Appearances from right-wing extremist groups have increased since Trump took office in 2016, with white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys praising the businessman’s win. Research from the Center for Strategic & International Studies found that Trump’s rhetoric regarding racial and ethnic minorities led to vigilantism, hate crimes, and even death
. Following the death of a protestor at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides.”However, state and federal leaders supported movements made by Holmes, Walton and the 100 Black Men. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine released a statement condemning the Nazi group.
“There is no place in this State for hate, bigotry, antisemitism or violence, and we must denounce it wherever we see it,” he said. Mayor Andrew Ginther followed suit, referring to the masked marchers as “cowards,” while city attorney Zach Klein released a statement on X, warning the marchers to never return. “To those involved in the neo-Nazi march in the Short North today, take your flags and the masks you hide behind and go home and never come back. Your hate isn’t welcome in our city,” he wrote.
The White House also stood in solidarity with city and state leaders with a statement saying the “hateful poison of Nazism” is “hostile to everything the United States stands for, including protecting the dignity of all our citizens and the freedom to worship.”
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