The Charlottesville rally 5 years later: 'It's what you're still trying to forget'

Charlottesville activist Don Gathers reflects on five years since white supremacists terrorized his hometown — "all the hatefulness and evilness that transpired here." (Eze Amos for NPR)

In a downtown park, grass grows over the spot where there once stood a massive bronze statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, astride his horse Traveller.

The space feels different now, says Don Gathers, co-founder of the local Black Lives Matter group.

“It’s much more serene,” he says.