A reverend who led his parishioners through the streets of Boston on Saturday to protest against a “free speech rally” that some feared would attract white nationalists says he believes race relations in the United States are getting better.

Rev. John C. Dorhauer, President of the United Church of Christ, said that recent rallies attended by white supremacists and neo-Nazis – like last Saturday’s deadly rally in Charlottesville, N.C. -- represent the “dying embers of a racist past that we’re ready to eradicate.”

“What we are seeing is the last vestige of white patriarchy doing everything they can to gain attention,” Dorhauer told CTV News Channel on Saturday.

“That they have a president that is opening up safe space for them makes it feel as if they are gaining ground,” he added. “They are not.”

According to the Pew Research Center, more Americans who were polled viewed race relations as “generally good” than “generally bad” from around 2000 until May 2015. That changed after the death of black man Freddie Gray, who died in Baltimore Police custody, his death sparking protests and riots.

An estimated 15,000 counter-protesters showed up in Boston Saturday to face off with what turned out to be just a handful of people attending the “free speech” rally. Police made a number of arrests.

Dorhauer said hateful people are “going to look more powerful and more dangerous than they are but they’re not going to have another day in America.”

With files from The Associated Press