When white supremacist groups and black demonstrators showed up to the South Carolina State House property, where the Confederate flag had recently been removed, it seemed like a cocktail for hostility.
Fifty white supremacists holding Nazi and Confederate flags were quickly met by a jeering crowd. A scuffle broke out, causing five arrests and seven people to be hospitalized.
Nearly 2,000 people showed up on a day where the temperature was nearly 100 degrees. Tensions rose and things seemed bleak.
But then something incomprehensible happened. Rob Godfrey, a South Carolina resident, photographed a picture that no one expected to see that day.
The photograph showed a black police officer, Leroy Smith, helping a white man, tired in the heat, wearing a t-shirt with the Nazi swastika on it. Yes, he was a member of the hostile white supremacist group.
When I see pictures like this, I can’t help but think of the photograph of the little boy who hugged a complete stranger in the Charleston aftermath. They were different races but the little boy didn’t care about that; he cared only about love and human connection.
Within hours, the picture was shared nearly 6,000 times with the caption: “Not an uncommon example of humanity in SC: Leroy Smith helps white supremacist to shelter & water as heat bears down.”
See the photo below and SHARE if it warms your heart to see such kindness in the midst of such chaos.
"Not an uncommon example of humanity in SC: Leroy Smith helps white supremacist to shelter & water as heat bears down," Godfrey wrote.
SHARE this photo to prove there is always hope!
