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Museum object · Memorabilia and Ephemera - Political and Activist Ephemera

Sign with "Destroy White Supremacy" used in the Unite the Right counter-protest

August 12, 2017

Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, North and Central America

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Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A handmade protest sign by Justin McBrien used during the Charlottesville, Virginia counter-protest to the Unite the Right rally on August 12, 2017. The sign is constructed from purple and blue poster board with the slogans "Destroy White Supremacy" on the front, and "Black Lives Matter" on the back. The front of the sign is blue and features a dark blue and black marker drawing of a Ku Klux Klan mask covered by a no symbol, outlined in black and pink marker. Handwritten text around the top of the circle reads [DESTROY WHITE] and [SUPREMACY] on the bottom. There is a small drawing of a hammer in the left corner. A fragment of a small white adhesive label adheres to the bottom right corner. The back of the sign is dominated by large, stylized text that reads, [BLACK / LiVES / MATTER] outlined in blue and black marker and filled in with yellow marker.

Sources & collection details

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗

Source collection ↗

Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

Catalog reference: 2018.42.4

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