No doubt on Saturday, before the clash in Charlottesville turned into a horrifying example of the whole country's possession by the demons of racism, it was a local news story. State and local media would naturally be covering a planned rightist demonstration against the dismantling of a Confederate statue and the expected counter-protest.

Charlottesville issue, Virginia issue, Southern issue: It would be news with specific meaning for people in the city, commonwealth and region. For city residents, it would be the disappearance of a local landmark, which they might miss or be glad to be rid of. For Virginia, like South Carolina when that state confronted the Confederate flag controversy, this was a moment of truth about the roots of modern racism. It turned into a scene of hate-filled violence and a crime of domestic terrorism.

A friend whose life's work is in social justice issues expressed even before Charlottesville what is troubling many: So much is wrong nationally and globally, does it do enough good just to serve the human and social needs around here? Is that fiddling while the country burns?

The answer is that without such work there are people who would have no cause to hope. And in the wake of Charlottesville, there is a corollary: The remedies for hatred are personal, even if the president, who was two days late with his official condemnation, does provide national leadership to stem the spread of white supremacism.

A serious clash of values can rise above the local issue that precipitates it and become a symbol that resonates everywhere, but the triggering event happens on the ground, and the ground is somewhere specific.

That's the way it was in New London in 2005, when The Day, which had been covering the Fort Trumbull eminent domain cases for years in state court and local news, was joined by the national media to cover the Supreme Court decision that narrowly favored the city.

Kelo v. New London was a groundbreaking 5-4 decision that seemed to be a loss for Fifth Amendment rights advocates. Yet as state after state upped its eminent domain protections in reaction, the court's ruling became a victory for the "losing" side and an ongoing national story — fortunately not a story of violence but, like civil rights, a constitutional issue.

Here, it was originally and in the end a neighborhood story, in which people we might know, might see in the supermarket, were losing their homes while the city lost ground in economic development. The effect was personal and urban hardship.

On Sunday we watched the Charlottesville mayor struggling to explain to the national media how his city is reacting to a tragedy that began in hatred, and what the citizens may do in response. For him, this is a local story and a problem his own city must address. He and the people of Charlottesville have a mess to clean up, and they have to look each other in the eye while they do it.

They will have to face the fact that people who go to work and school and quite possibly church in their city are willing to turn on the racist spigot of hatred and mob violence, neighbor against neighbor. Even if the terrorism case against the alleged driver of the car that killed a bystander eventually gets a conviction, that won't change hearts and minds.

Healing for Charlottesville will have to start in Charlottesville, but it doesn't have to end there. Other communities share the burdens of extremism and racism and the need to address them. They need to vote out those who ignore this stain or rationalize it. If, as the saying goes, all politics is local, so are the issues, the voters, and the political will to stop the violence.

It is not futile to do good here. It's the most critical task right now.

Lisa McGinley is a member of The Day editorial board.