Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press
OXFORD, Miss. — As the news began to percolate that pro-Confederate and white supremacist groups were planning to march at the University of Mississippi last Saturday, Devontae Shuler was becoming increasingly anxious. The violence that had unfolded at similar events in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 had crossed his mind, a menacing video was circulating on social media and Shuler wondered if he and other African-Americans might somehow become targets of physical attacks.
So, last Friday, he did what he often does when something troubles him: He called his mother.
Laura Shuler patched in her oldest son, D.