Latz: Neo-Nazis revisit Toledo

The neo-Nazis rallied on April 18 in downtown Toledo outside of One Government Center to support and promote their beliefs of hatred and their ideology of Hitler, which is extremely racist and unacceptable in our society today. People should spread love, not hatred. But because of the freedom of speech and the right to protect it, the people have a right to go to downtown Toledo and participate in the rally — which I do not agree with, because the Nazis are a group of people that should not even exist due to their violent words and actions.

Last Tuesday, I was in scrolling through Facebook looking at my news feed and suddenly I saw an article stating that the neo-Nazis are coming to march through downtown Toledo. At first, I thought it was a joke and not a real article because I assumed the Nazis did not exist anymore. I believed they were just a thing in the past. Throughout the week, I kept on overhearing people saying, “Did you hear that the Nazis were coming?” and “Oh, don’t go near downtown unless you want to get into a riot!” I was getting confused. I knew who the Nazis were and what they stood for, but I did not know what a neo-Nazi was, so I looked up the definition. On the Merriam-Webster website it defined a neo-Nazi as, “A person who belongs to a group that believes in the ideas and policies of Hitler’s Nazis and that sometimes commits violent acts.”

I then ended up Googling, “neo Nazis in Toledo,” and there it was — a list of articles about the event. I was shocked to see that it was true. I believe Nazis should not even exist anymore. People like the Nazis should not even have the right to speak out and march through our city. They create a disturbance with the peace and spread hatred and violence wherever they go and all they want is a reaction from the public.

I was reading these articles about how to avoid the rallies and also how the people can respond to these horrifying and violent actions. The Toledo Blade put out an editorial stating that the people should stay away from the event and avoid giving them any attention — because that is what these neo-Nazis were looking for, attention and a response from the people of Toledo to start a riot or who knows what.

I also read that some people responded by setting up different events. The Community Solidarity Response Network of Toledo hosted “Black Lives Matter Day” at the Frederick Douglass Community Association. Willys Park Block Watch organizers planned a Community Peace day by the Eleanor Kahle Senior Center. Even The Toledo Zoo made an event, Party for the Planet.

By the end of the day, there was no violence due to the neo-Nazis, just a lot of hatred and disgusting speeches given to the public. The neo-Nazis just brought their flags and symbols, gave speeches and chanted. There was one arrest for disorderly conduct, but that was after the rally and no one got hurt. The rally turned out to be successful, compared to the one 10 years ago. When the neo-Nazis visited last time, there were more than 100 arrests, 115 charged with riot-related offenses and 200 people just observing.

I was glad to hear that not a lot of people attended to the rally and that everyone was safe. I believe that in the United States, we shouldn’t have any organizations about racism and discrimination. We all came from different countries and we all have unique backgrounds about our cultures. We should be learning from each other and spreading peace and not leave anyone out, because we are all one.

I hope the neo-Nazis will never come back to our city and hopefully people learned that everyone should be treated equally with love and compassion. Period.

Olivia Latz is a second-year majoring in communication.