January 6, 2021
Allow me to start by saying that rarely am I moved to great swings of emotion. One effect of my time in the Army is that my emotional swing is greatly blunted. Very little moves me…be it death, or unfortunate incidence. Not to say that I don’t feel emotions, but if you’re girding up for a large emotional outpouring of dismay, anger and betrayal…you won’t get it here.
What you will get is an honest personal assessment of what I saw transpire yesterday in the nation’s capital, when a mob of citizens, thousands strong, strong armed capital hill.
I wasn’t surprised, shocked, or awed by what I saw in Washington D.C. yesterday. What I saw was America doing what it does, and being who it is. The only difference between yesterday and 90 years ago is that 90 years ago, that crowd wouldn’t have been satiated by anything less than strange fruit hanging from a poplar tree…oh, excuse me, Washington has those lovely Cherry Blossom trees they are so proud of.
Now, allow me to give credit to Ben & Jerry’s for hitting the nail of the head on the events of January 6th. On that day we saw two America’s. One on hand, record voter turnout resulted in the election of the first black senator and the first Jewish senator in the history of Georgia state, and both men have connections to one of the most celebrated African American politicians in American history in John Lewis.
And then we also saw a mob of white people angrily sweep into the capital building, loot and pillage, resulting in the deaths of 5 people including one police officer, and then go cavorting off into the dark like nothing happened…and please, let’s kill all the false equivalencies now. BLM would never do anything like that because they know, as I know, that if a group of black and brown people attempted to ransack one of the most “sacred” buildings in the nation, it would be an absolute blood bath. If you ever needed a clear portrait of systemic racism and white privilege, yesterday provided it for you.
And people are asking what will be done? Well, when has this country ever punished large groups of white people when their actions were in direct support of maintaining white supremacy in this country? Instead of swinging billy clubs, the police took selfies with rioters. We can barely punish singular white people when we have them on camera doing wrong.
And to quote Ben & Jerry’s, let’s be very clear,
“Yesterday was not a protest—it was a riot to uphold white supremacy.” ~ Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
Additionally, the message sent yesterday, not by the rioters, but by the systems and organizations that are meant to serve and protect was received loud and clear. I believe Zach De La Rocha said it best…
“Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses.” ~ Zach De La Rocha
Meanwhile, closer to home, a newly elected Illinois Congresswoman, Mary Miller, made positive reference to Hitler during a speech in D.C. on January 5th. What politician in 2021 thinks it’s a good idea to invoke Hitler? Oh yeah, the one from my state.
Southern Illinois: Y’all hate it when Chicago people talk bad about you, but you had 2 years to figure it out and this is who you pull out of the bag? Poof…be gone!
Let’s be real…America as a whole has lost its cotton picking mind ever since a black man was elected to the highest office in the land. Up to that point, it felt like we were on an upward trajectory in terms of race relations in America, but that was obviously too much for some of you all to handle.
I firmly believe you never have Donald Trump in the White House without Barack Obama, and it has been speculated for years that that is literally true, as Donald Trump reportedly decided to run for the White House after being publicly embarrassed by Barack Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner. You might recall that Donald Trump was a vehement birther back in the day, and please allow me to remind you that his racism is nothing new….he has a long, disgusting history.
The Atlantic - Trump’s Racism: An Oral History
Vox - Trump’s long history of racism, from the 1970s to 2020
And so we find ourselves watching the sunset on the worst presidency (arguably) in modern history. Less than 2 weeks, and there are screams of invoking the 25th Amendment fo the Constitution or impeachment. However, let’s not kid ourselves, the bad seeds that Trump has sewn won’t simply go off into the distance with him. We’ll be fighting a new fight as all of his followers surely wage political war on the first Black+ Female Vice President in American history.
And so we have some decisions to make, and once again, I feel that Ben & Jerry’s summed this up brilliantly,
“Both of these Americas are us. How we respond to the events of yesterday will determine which America we will be.” ~ Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
Personally, what I want is for allies to stop clutching their f***ing pearls every time these things happen. Get on board. Learn the history. Figure out how not new any of this is, and how deeply entrenched in our culture white supremacy, the value of white people in general over all other, is. I don’t want people to feel guilty or to cast off their birthrights...I just want them to recognize that our culture is broken at the most fundamental levels. From there we can talk solutions.
Finally, please don’t think that the birth of the Biden presidency is an ending, or that the taking of House and Senate by the Democratic Party means that you can fall asleep for the next four years. This is not an ending. This is a beginning, as we were so fervently reminded of on Wednesday afternoon. Allow me to offer you a pre-emptive wake up call.
Happy New year brothers and sisters!
What are your thoughts on January 6th and the riot and ransacking in Washington D.C.? Please share down in the comments. I’m always interested in hearing the views of others.
Cover Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
