As our nation grapples with the aftermath of a staged attempt at a violent coup led by the President of the United States, it’s going to become increasingly clear who and what the culprit really is: The American penchant for granting passes to whites for all sorts of noxious, dangerous and now destabilizing behaviors — as long as their dastardly actions are cloaked in the false garment of “patriotism.”
What investigators are going to finally discover (something we Black Americans have known all along) is the strong ties between the would-be seditionists and law enforcement — but only if a swift, fair and impartial investigation is carried out. But that’s a big “if.”
There’s a strong suspicion that law enforcement in this country, to a certain extent has become co-opted by bigots, race-baiters and Klan sympathizers. Again, this is nothing new to us black folk. In fact, it’s more than just a suspicion — hard evidence exists that proves the nexus between those who are sworn to “Protect and Serve” and those who view law enforcement as a tool of white supremacy to be used primarily to control Black citizens.
Race is still such an incendiary topic in America that few of our political leaders have the stomach to touch it with a ten-foot pole. But the wound caused by our past history of ill-treatment of Black Americans is beginning to fester and is threatening the entire body politic with deadly toxins. If our incoming leadership doesn’t grasp the jeopardy we’re currently in as a nation — and act decisively — this “Experiment in Democracy” could suddenly come crashing down around our ears.
Those in the conservative media are already billing the Capitol Building incident as, at best an anomaly, and at worst, the work of Antifa activists pretending to be tRump supporters. And it is making these claims with a straight face. The fear is, they just might get away with it.
Some in the Democratic Party, in the name of “national unity” and the weak-kneed desire to avoid contentious and combative House and Senate hearings, are going to loudly proclaim that as a nation we should “look forward, not backward,” but that’s how we got into this mess in the first place.
As a nation we have never confronted our grotesque history of chattel enslavement, the fallout from a devastating Civil War, and purposely failed Reconstruction. But this unaddressed past caught up with us on January 6 and is threatening the potential unraveling of our Republic.
For many, many years we have allowed some citizens to practice selective amnesia; any aspect of our past that makes those on the right uncomfortable is not to be discussed. The theory being, if we just quit talking about our ugly history it will simply disappear, cease to exist — just like racism disappeared when blacks quit talking about it so much. Right?
Similar to what tRump said about the pandemic, “Just ignore it and it will go away.” But the only thing in danger of “going away” is our democracy. Know this: If the insurrectionists and their supporters and enablers are not taken to account we are setting the country up for constant repeat performances, and not just in our nation’s Capitol.
