Justice for George – Franklin Edition

Many protests have popped up across the nation. I believe there have been demonstrations even overseas. Unfortunately, the message from these demonstrations have been hijacked by rioters and looters, but there appears to be an effort to regain the message in the wake of the rioting and looting. One of these such protests took place on the square in Franklin, Tennessee.

Over the last few weeks, I have made time to document the protests and demonstrations following the death of George Floyd. It’s been a lot of work, but I believe it will be well worth the effort capturing these moments in our history. When I got the news about the Franklin protest, I didn’t immediately start planning. I was still recovering from the Nashville protest. My thinking was that one was enough and they are typically the same. Well, I finally convinced myself to check it out. I figured while Franklin and Nashville are separated by only 20 miles, they are two different worlds. It would be interesting to see how the Franklin protest compares to what I witnessed in Nashville. 

I arrived on the scene to find an empty square. It was business as usual on Main Street with the exception of a few business owners who had boarded up their businesses in anticipation of what happened after Nashville’s peaceful protest. I sat across from the square for a few minutes and then noticed a group of people gathering across the way. After a few minutes of congregating, the group made their way to the square. Shortly after the initial group of people started positioning themselves around the Confederate Statue, that is at the heart of the square, more people began to show up. These images are in the order taken. To change things up a bit, I decided to edit these images in color. I hope you enjoy the slideshow.

The Franklin protest was definitely different than the one I witnessed in Nashville, and I’m not referring to the rioting and vandalism that happened afterwards. I’m referring to some of the extreme messages and derogatory chanting that took place during parts of the protest in Nashville. This is not a complaint. I believe in free speech. We all know the first amendment is not in place to protect speech we like, but it’s there to protect the speech we don’t like. 

I did not hear any derogatory chanting or see any signs laced with profanity on the square in Franklin. Some of the protesters were vocal and some held their signs without saying a word. No one blocked traffic. Most of the participants were young adults, and most of the young adults were women. Many different races of people were represented, but the majority were white. Everyone appeared to be friendly and having a great time. Something I noticed about the Franklin protest that was different than most protests I’ve witnessed over the years is that the rally started promptly on time and ended promptly on time. As far as I know, there were no altercations during and afterwards. In my opinion, this protest was the perfect model of a peaceful demonstration. 

I have one more protest event to share in this series. This final one is special to me because it took place in my home county, Franklin County, Tennessee. The rally back home was also peaceful and it was filled with messages of unity and peace. Be sure to Like and Follow my Facebook Page at Shuttering Thru Life to catch my coverage of the protest in Winchester. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!