The Nation is Sick
If they had all been Black, there would be more than four people dead.
More than 48 hours after the insurrection at our Nation’s Capitol and the emotions are still very raw. There is so much to unpack from what has transpired, but what I keep coming back to is this predominantly white mob of domestic terrorists (they were not protestors) and the treatment they received from Capitol Police. Their attempted coup (it was not a protest or a demonstration), may have been unsuccessful. But we all got to witness white supremacy and systemic racism at play, on live television and at the literal rostrum of our democracy. They breached the perimeter, infiltrated our Capitol building and afterward, lived to breathe the air of freedom as they strolled out on their own free will as easily as they walked in.
Some of these people brought in Confederate flags — you know, the symbol of the last coup attempt in America — and replaced our American flags with them, as though they were members of a revanchist color guard. Others tried to replace our flag with a Trump flag, in case there was any doubt of the origins of this successor seditionist movement. One man donned a sweatshirt that said “Camp Auschwitz” as if he was supporting a sports team on game day. They gloated. They told their stories with no shame and no immediate action taken against them. They carried home trophies, including the mail of the Speaker of the House, third in line to the Presidency. This was a scalping of our democracy, incited by its duly elected head. The one who posted a video while the breach was underway telling the infantry, “I know your pain,” “we love you,” and “you’re very special.”
Special indeed.
Now, compare their treatment and the immediate consequences for their actions with the countless stories we have been sharing with you of people who are not able to live their daily lives simply because of the color of their skin. The ones who have been called “thugs” and “traitors” or other slurs. Or worse, not called anything at all as their lives are summarily taken away.
These last few days exposed how grossly infected our country is with a systemic white power problem that is deeply embedded in our society. They show why systemic racism is a mortal threat to our democracy. These terrorists rallied around the cause and were sent into action because they believed they needed to “take their country back” in order to “make America great again.” When all is said and done, this was about racial suppression and hegemony.
Days have passed. The arrests that should have happened day-of have been minimal. The President who egged on the coup attempt and was apparently “bemused” watching the images from his provocation on television is still in office.
Our country is not in the healing stage of this process. Like a wound, we must first flush out and rid ourselves of the grievous infection to avoid risk of further sickness. We need to reckon with what happened. Only then can we move toward true healing. All of America needs to face the reality that so many denied and continue to deny: there are truly two systems in this country. One in which a mob of extremists can infiltrate our Capitol building because they did not get their way, where a white man can shoot up an entire Black church and then be taken for a Burger King meal by police. And then a second, a system where Black people cannot even peacefully protest FOR THEIR LIVES in their capitol without being violently confronted by law enforcement, cleared out from peaceably assembling in front of the White House with tear gas and billy clubs. Or where a Black boy could not play with a toy gun in a park. Or where another Black boy did not make it home from school eating his bag of Skittles without being shot dead. And on, and on, and on and on.
The double standard has got to stop. As these last hours have made clear, systemic racism is not something that we can afford to learn about passively and on our own time — that we can evolve around. It is an infection and disease that must be actively and immediately cleaned out of our democracy. It should not be too much for us all to say and understand now that the fate of our Republic hangs in the balance.
