Atlanta NAACP, Anti-Fascist Group Coordinate Protests for Donald Trump’s Alabama-Georgia Game

By Sameer Rao Jan 08, 2018

At least two racial and social justice groups in Atlanta will protest President Donald Trump‘s anticipated attendance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium tonight (January 8), where the University of Georgia Bulldogs and The University of Alabama Crimson Tide will compete for the College Football Playoff National Championship.

The Atlanta chapter of the NAACP encouraged game attendees to wave white towels during any mention of Trump in a statement published to Facebook yesterday (January 7). Per the statement, the group chose white to symbolize snowflakes, an insult that many conservatives use to describe liberals’ alleged emotional fragility towards discrimination.

"Trump supporters mockingly call the opposition snowflakes, but when we come together we create a mighty storm," the statement reads. The Atlanta NAACP also points supporters to its Twitter feed, where it will detail Trump’s false statements throughout the game. The statement motivates users to tweet alongside the chapter with the hashtag #AllTrumpLies, which uses "ATL," a popular abbreviated name for Atlanta, as an acronym.

A grassroots organizing collective called Refuse Fascism ATL will hold its own action outside of CNN headquarters, which is near Mercedes-Benz Stadium, at 6 p.m. EST. A Facebook event for the action says that participants will kneel to protest Trump administration policies that impact the city’s communities of color.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that Trump’s visit comes nearly a year after he publicly disparaged Atlanta as "horrible" and "crime-infested."

The College Football Playoff National Championship game airs at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.