Thigh-High Politics is an Op-Ed column by Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca that breaks down the news, provides resources for the resistance, and just generally refuses to accept toxic nonsense.

A violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville this weekend left one woman dead, at least 19 injured, and an entire country unable to deny the reality that, yeah, racism really is that bad in the year 2017.

The protest — proudly accessorized with swastikas, Confederate flags, and an unabridged thesaurus of slurs — was perhaps the most grotesque manifestation of bigotry since the 2016 election. For “nice white people” who felt a ton of compassion for the minorities in the 2006 Oscar-winning film Crash, it may be tempting to write Charlottesville off as a fringe act, when truly it is emblematic of a disease plaguing every member of this society. The vile hate we saw this weekend is enabled by a far quieter refusal to fight against white supremacy and an accompanying willingness to reap its benefits. You can participate in white supremacy without carrying a tiki torch for racism.

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The president’s response to Charlottesville reveals this weekend’s nightmare as the tip of a big old racist iceberg otherwise known as America. Trump has issued unbridled takedowns of subjects ranging from North Korean nuclear armament to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s subpar ratings on Celebrity Apprentice, apparently reacting to everything that pisses him off in real time, and yet, when faced with a racial state of emergency, he opted for a cautiously equivocating nonstatement that chastised “many sides.” That is intentional and hugely significant.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides,” he said from Bedminster, New Jersey, on Saturday. “On many sides. It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time.”

As president, Trump has a responsibility to lead this country with moral authority, and equating a racist mob with the counterprotesters who stood up to resist them constitutes a passive sanctioning of weaponized bigotry. Just ask the KKK and neo-Nazis, who respectively said that the demonstration was intended to help “fulfill the promises of Donald Trump” and praised his lack of outright condemnation as “really, really good.” Anything other than a vocal denouncement of the horror of Charlottesville undeniably fuels the forces that fueled it.

For white people who don’t self-identify as disciples of Richard Spencer, David Duke, and/or the ancient demon Beelzebub, there is extreme anxiety around the accusation of racism. We see this fear of blame in Trump’s statement. “Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama” seems to say, 'Hey, there’s been a tense racial climate in this country forever. It’s not anyone’s fault!' Except the opposite is true. American white supremacy has been a problem forever, and it is all of our fault, fellow white people.

White people benefit from white supremacy. Period. Peggy McIntosh spelled this out for us in 1989, but apparently we’re still not quite getting it. Her famous piece, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” lays out undeniable ways that it is simply easier to be white in this country, like always having a boss who is a fellow white person, or, you know, being able to eat Skittles at night without getting shot. Most white people didn’t ask for this privilege. Actually, that’s the whole idea. White privilege is an inherent advantage that easily goes unnoticed and unacknowledged. Rather than stuffing down the sense of shame associated with this obvious unfairness, why not work to even the playing field?

Look, getting a job because your name is Geoff is not the same thing as joining the KKK, but that privilege is precisely the thing white supremacists were working to reassert in Charlottesville. They chanted about not being “replaced.” Their very existence is grounded in insisting on a moral claim to this country as a superior race. They want to continue having every possible advantage based on the color of their skin; that’s practically the mission statement. Most white people are at least aware that they benefit from white supremacy, and yet we stuff down these painfully obvious truths, tending to our cognitive dissonance like a paper cut that won’t heal, worrying more about being called racists than the effects of racism itself.

Don’t write Charlottesville off as a one-night-only bigotry jamboree. Far-right groups are claiming this weekend as a “moral victory.” Let’s insist on making it the final, ugly death rattle of the racist monster that has haunted this country since the day it was founded. Seriously, guys, how much more of this movie do we need to see before we figure out the ending?

Trump’s statement was met with outrage across the aisle. On Sunday, the White House emailed a statement to reporters that referenced “white supremacists” but continued to place blame on “all extremist groups.” It was basically “many sides” with a few more details, sent in response to questions about Trump’s remarks, more than 36 hours after the demonstration started. This morning, after continued criticism, Trump finally called out neo-Nazis and the KKK by name, and said “racism is evil,” which is perhaps marginally bolder than declaring that “evil is evil.”

Make no mistake: This president was elected, in part, by the white supremacists who marched on Charlottesville. After his shameful response to this crisis, he has proven that he is unwilling to forcefully condemn the racist forces that contributed to his presidency. Sitting back and waiting for this mess to go away is not the equivalent of joining a racist mob, but it is morally indefensible.

To all of the “nice white people,” I say this: Stop furrowing your brow over “the partisan divide,” and loudly declare your position in this fight against hatred. There is no such thing as bias when it comes to white supremacists. To hell with fairness and respectability. Burn politeness to the ground and get vocal. Talk to your friends and family members. Be willing to make sacrifices and insist on taking a stand for what is right. The president is talking about “many sides,” and one of them is white supremacy, so you better make a clear f*cking choice about which side you’re on.

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Related: What to Do If You Witness Racism or Hate Crimes

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