Shocked But Not Surprised

I don’t know about you all, but I’m still processing what happened in out nation’s capital two days ago: the attempted coup incited by our lame duck, sitting president (traitor in chief). It was shocking but not at all surprising given who Trump is, what he’s been saying since day one and the fervid and rabid nature of his base whose angry energy — fueled by a perceived sense of collective victimhood — Trump has been both feeding off of and feeding into for five long years. This was the logical outcome. This morning, I listened to an interview with newly elected Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who described the terror of being in the Capitol building as the angry mob invaded. Indeed it sounded harrowing and disturbing but what really struck me from the interview was her characterization of the invasion as “unAmerican”. Nothing, I think, can be further from the truth. Violence and destruction fueled by White rage -and make no mistake, so much of what drives the MAGA crowd is fundamentally a fear that White dominance and privilege is being challenged politically, socially, culturally, etc — has been a founding principle of this country. The very land upon which this nation sits, was not “discovered” by Europeans. It was taken by conquest and force from the people who were already here, upon whom we inflicted a physical and cultural genocide. Much of this country’s wealth was built on the backs of Africans brought here by force whose slave labor filled the pocketbooks of many White families and institutions who continue to be among the most powerful and influential in our nation to this day. The Civil War came about because the Southern states wanted the right for White people to KEEP owning Black slaves. Even when slavery was abolished, White resentment and rage fueled the Jim Crow laws that disenfranchised Black people for decades until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (almost a full century after the end of the Civil War) — not to mention the lynchings of Black men which were so common as to inspire the Billie Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit”. There are plenty of specific incidents we can point to as well: the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, the Rosewood Massacre in Florida in 1924, just to name a couple. Anti-immigrant sentiment rooted in a general fear of the brown masses over running our shores (sound familiar?) has fueled the mistreatment, killing and incarceration of Asians, South and Central Americans, African, Muslim, and really anyone who doesn’t fit the mold of desirable immigrant stock (i.e. Northern Europeans). You only need to hear Trump disparage those from “shithole” countries while concurrently lying about his own Swedish roots (as if being of German heritage isn’t Aryan enough?!) to know that this is true. So that very same White privilege that allowed a narcissistic, psychopathic con-man to fail spectacularly upward into the highest office in the land, is the same White privilege that allowed a rage filled White mob to storm the nation’s Capitol building (the people’s house) with very little fear of retribution or even being held minimally accountable. And that’s the same White privilege that allows this new Congresswoman, even after experiencing the terror of the attack first hand, to believe that this event was “unAmerican”. This White rage is as American as apple pie. And until we recognize this cancer for what it is — as much a part of our national body as our highest ideals — history is doomed to repeat itself.