It’s been an exhausting few months. Since Inauguration Day, we've endured a seemingly endless torrent of bad news, bad speeches… bad people. With every new day comes a new headline story from the right about how our nation is in shambles, as the left scrambles to cover controversy after controversy that erupts from the White House.

The most recent update? Unfortunately, even more recent than the tweet-fueled threat of nuclear war that caught the media’s attention for the latter end of last week, was the Charlottesville protest. For those of you who are unaware (although I suspect you are far and few between), a group of neo-Nazis and white supremacists carrying tiki torches and flags bearing the swastika and Confederate cross gathered to protest the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue.

Violence escalated as they intimidated the anti-violence protesters, and it led to a man driving his car into a group of people, killing a 32-year-old woman. Heather Heyer died tragically, standing up for peace and taking action against what she thought was wrong. For most of us who do nothing more than post tweets and Facebook posts to express our anger, her actions are nothing short of heroic.

Since then, the alt-right has become emboldened by the publicity of their fellow bigots and their President’s delayed (and, as it appeared, hesitant) condemnation of the violence and racism that was exhibited in Charlottesville.

Our nation is in a state of turmoil, spurred primarily by the Trump administration’s constant explicit and implicit speeches that lead to disunity. But because the hatred and bigotry are coming to light, more people are becoming aware of the presence of racists in their midst.

When Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson, Missouri, we caught the first glimpse when the All Lives Matter movement began in opposition to the Black Lives Matter campaign. That mentality has since escalated, and transformed from a political issue into a full out blast from the past where people’s silence enabled xenophobia. As a result of last weeks events, it became more apparent than ever that the white supremacy mindset was never eradicated; it was just festering.

Charlottesville’s horrific events brought this real and present issue to light, and people are now aware of the latent hatred that still exists in our country today. It is an opportunity for us to make even more progress than we had before— being aware of the issue is the first step to remedying it.

In an ideal world, these heinous self-proclaimed "nationalists" and their ideas would never exist, and people would not fall victim to the violence that we saw in Virginia last week. But we don’t live in an ideal world, so we need to become more active in our approach to include and appreciate the people around us, regardless of their ethnicity, religious affiliation, or even their politics.

Condemning the KKK and similar alt-right groups is not a difficult feat and one that serves as a unifying factor for all decent people. In a tumultuous political sphere that sees a division at every new issue on the agenda, we look to the fundamental disapproval of the awful, inhumane actions of these people. By using that as a building block for more discussion and campaigns to end civil violence and racism, there is a possibility to create a more cohesive country that is siphoned of those antagonists.