America - This is Exactly Who We Are
Pandemic Diary Entry #71
January 7, 2021
You do not bring a confederate flag to the United States Capitol because you don’t like the results of an election, you bring a confederate flag to the United States Capitol because you are a racist.
What happened on the night of January 6th, a mob able to enter the US Capitol, the first breach of the US Capitol since the British burned it down in 1814, was the result of white privilege and America’s racist policies that while modified and altered, have not changed since slavery.
I can go through the things that white people think gave people of color (POC) more rights and freedoms, but I would ask that you read your history books instead. Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law in 1965, while that sounds great on paper, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and their “Southern Agenda” simply moved racism to the justice system, making racism disappear by rebranding it “Get Tough on Crime” and the “War on Drugs.”
One can not blame the Republican party alone, the Democratic establishment has been front and center backing up the fallacy of the war on drugs and then cutting programs that help the poor and working-class get a leg up. Follow that with stagnating wages, the inability to afford healthcare, the dismantling of unions, and shipping good jobs overseas and we are now reaping what we have sown. We have a population of underserved poor that are looking around and wondering where their American dream went. The result of these failed policies is that if you are white you blame POC and if you are a person of color you are trapped in a Mobius curve of poverty with the high probability of being shot or ending up in jail.
The domestic terrorist act that occurred on January 6th, was the result of a narcissistic sociopath that has convinced over 70 million people of the bald-faced lie that the election was stolen.
It is also a result of a lot of white people thinking they are a superior race and therefore “entitled” to raise hell in the “People’s House.”
This idea was backed up by a police force that agreed these people were superior and so took selfies with the terrorists and let them walk out the door with trophies from their seditious acts.
I have heard many arguments today about the need to educate people. To the people arguing this it is obvious that science proves the pandemic is real. They also are logical and, rightfully so, agree that due diligence on the part of hard-working people that take their jobs seriously prove the election results are real (as do 50 judges, including the Supreme Court). Racism can not be countered by science, and education certainly does not seem to have worked, we need a national change of heart and mind. We need a moral compass in the White House and we need to stop buying into the concept that POC just need to obey the police and bad things won’t happen.
I know I come from white privilege, for that reason I hesitate to even broach this subject, I am not sure it is my place, but I am furious and need to be one of the voices that say enough is enough.
America, we have a systemic racist problem that has been in place for 200 years. It has to stop.
I do not think I will ever be able to understand someone that finds a Robert E. Lee statue or the confederate flag something to be proud of. These are symbols of oppression and hate to POC and signs of treason against the US to many. That subject is for another day, but I do think that it is time that our police be reformed, and the populace stops countering with “All Lives Matter” it is simply proof you have no idea how deep your prejudice goes while you aver that you are color-blind.
We also need to address homegrown terrorism. There is no mechanism in the US right now to label and address Domestic Terrorism. This was just that, it is time we use the words and react accordingly.
If my words are not convincing you, take a look at the following photographs and then take a hard look at yourself and those around you. Racism in America (and yes in other countries as well) has reached a point where a revolution may include a lot more than a seditious act by a bunch of white gun-toting racist Americans.
The above photo was the police presence during a BLM march in June. The following is the police presence on June 6th.
The possibility of a riot was well known to most everyone that was paying attention. I have discussed the possibility in the past, the media was certainly expecting it, and one must assume that at least one of the alphabet soup protection agencies that work out of DC had to have known as well. While the Capitol Police are responsible for the Capitol, that does not preclude their asking for assistance should they expect a problem.
Just for comparison, as you can see, the capitol police are perfectly capable of dragging out handicapped protestors, so dragging out confederate flag waving terrorists is not out of their skill set.
If a person has enough notice to print up a sweatshirt, the police must have had the same amount of time to prepare.
This entire debacle was racism writ large in the form of sedition and terrorism. Yes this is us America, god I hope we can do better.
