Tears were aplenty during a Friday segment of “The Van Jones Show” where the CNN host took a group of people with diverging political views on a ride in a minivan to discuss their differing opinions.
This week, Van Jones took two white Trump supporters and an African-American Democrat on a ride through Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta, the site of a controversial Confederate monument.
The Trump supporter said Stone Mountain reminded her of happy times with her dad while the Democrat saw it was a reminder of the Confederacy’s racist past. (CNN / YouTube video screenshot)
When asked how the memorial made her feel, the Black Democrat described the etching as a “monument to domestic terrorism” and “a reminder to Black people that we should have never been freed.” Her rebuke drew tears from a white passenger.
“That makes me so sad because I don’t identify with it that way,” said the white woman who supported Trump in the 2016 election. “… Coming here, I think of all the times with my father, my family—so this seems like a happy place. To hear that it’s hurtful to you—it makes me sad that that’s the impact it has on you, but this is a place where I have really happy memories.”
As the Trump supporter wiped away tears, the Black Democrat offered her a hug. She didn’t back down from her rebuke of the monument, however, or the racist legacy it represents.
“KKK rallies were here for a reason,” she explained, fighting back tears herself. “It feels like a threat. It feels like a consistent and looming, hard granite solid threat.”
A third passenger, who’s also a Trump supporter, said he understood where both women were coming from but explained the monument had historical significance for Georgians whose ancestors fought in the Civil War.
“A lot of those people disagree about why their ancestors fought,” he said. “But nonetheless, their ancestors died for their cause and this is what these statues are meant to commemorate.”
Hear more of their discussion in the video below.
