MSU football coach, Virginia native Ron Burton weighs in on racial turmoil in home state

EAST LANSING – Ron Burton simply refers to his hometown as the “804.”

Highland Springs, a suburb of nearly 16,000 residents on the east side of Richmond, Virginia, is where Michigan State’s defensive tackles’ coach calls home.

Head 80 miles west on Interstate 64 and you will run into Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia and ground zero for racial violence in America. Hundreds of protesters faced off Saturday in the college town, forcing police in riot gear to disperse crowds before the beginning of a white-nationalist rally downtown.

Violent eruptions between white nationalists and counter-protesters were overshadowed when a man rammed his car into a crowd of protesters, killing one and leaving 19 injured.

Burton, who is African-American, weighed in Thursday on the turmoil in his home state.

“It’s called life issues,” Burton said after practice inside the Duffy Daugherty practice facility. “Everyone has the right to speak, it’s just how you handle it.”

Burton didn’t go into further detail about his feelings on the matter, adding that “we all just have to deal with it. We live in America. We all have a right.”

He just urges people to deal with their differences “the right way.”

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MSU officials Thursday turned down a request from the National Policy Institute (NPI), which asked to hold an event with a speaker on the East Lansing campus. In a written statement Wednesday, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said university officials were "reviewing the request closely in light of the deplorable violence in Charlottesville, Va. last weekend."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that combats bigotry, deems NPI a white-nationalist group. The NPI describes itself as “dedicated to the heritage, identity and future of people of European descent.”

In February, the Charlottesville City Council voted to remove a statue of General Lee, from what was then called Robert E. Lee Park, now known as Emancipation Park. The vote sparked protests and the park was the staging ground for a torch-lit, white-nationalist rally in May. The Ku Klux Klan also held a protest there in July.

Burton grew up 14 miles from Richmond, which served as the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War. It is also home to Monument Avenue, a tree-lined city block featuring statues and markers of Virginia’s southern war heroes and participants such as Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, among others.

“No doubt,” Burton said of being bothered by the racial tension in Virginia. “It’s not only my home state, but none of these states would be here without Virginia. Particularly, Richmond, Virginia.”

 Contact Cody Tucker at (517) 377-1070 or cjtucker@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @CodyTucker_LSJ.