“Failed” Coup

Did January 6 surprise you? It shouldn’t have. It’s been coming.

The past few months I’ve been binging on podcasts, most recently Behind the Bastards and then this weekend It Could Happen Here, both hosted by Robert Evans. I’ve been learning a lot about how we’ve gotten to this place and time socially, politically, and economically. It connected with things I already knew and answered some questions I’ve had for a long time.

Did the fact the coup “failed” reassure you? It shouldn’t.

Many events that destabilize countries have early actions that look like failure. The only reason the invasion of the capitol wasn’t worse is that there was no leadership coordinating the many different groups that gathered in D.C. once they reached the capitol building. Most of them didn’t have a plan once they got into the capitol building. Trump doesn’t know how to use the tool he’s helped hone, but other people do.

Too many in congress refuse to condemn their colleagues who contributed to this. They will lay the blame solely on Trump. I’m grateful he doesn’t really understand how to use the powers of his office or things would be much worse. Who will pick up this tool he’s sharpened? 

It’s time to speak up, to march, to write, to talk to each other about what is happening. Maybe it will help turn the tide. But I’m not hopeful. It’s late in the game to get started bridging the deep rifts in our country. Wednesday wasn’t the end of this, no matter how shocked people are. Whatever goes down on inauguration day won’t be the end, either. Senators aren’t condemning their own for contributing to this, white people are not backing BIPOC leaders in demanding accountability, and many folks are stuck in the “I can’t believe it” phase. Speak now or live with the consequences.

Speak now or live with the consequences.

If this goes the way I fear, I’m not expecting actual firefights in the streets or a patchwork of autonomous zones across the country. I’m expecting a steady erosion of confidence in our elections, elected officials, and career civil servants until the type of corruption going on in the White House for the last four years becomes the norm throughout the government and the justice system. I expect that the U.S. will become generally less equitable and less safe for everyone, and definitely less equitable and safe for anyone who is not white and/or not a man. Yes, even less safe than it has been.

It Could Happen Here makes some solid suggestions in episodes “How to Save America and “The End of the United States of America” about steps we can take.  I’m thinking about how to reach out to folks I know to have some of these conversations.

I’ve spent time in places where bribes equaled justice. While in Kenya in 2000, I saw a thief beaten by community members until his head was a swollen caricature of a person because they knew he was unlikely to pay for his crimes through the justice system. I grew up in community with people who escaped religious violence in Iran in the late 1970’s, hearing reports of people being tortured and burned alive for their religious beliefs, and knowing that friends and family of people I sat next to were still there and in danger. I don’t want this for my country.

We aren’t perfect, hell, we’re far from it. But I’ve felt like we could and would keep improving. We could keep acknowledging the experiences and needs of more of our neighbors, we could keep expanding rights and protections both in law and in practice, and people could learn how to celebrate our differences, not be divided by them or fear each other because of them. 

Now, I’m worried we will be set back a couple of generations, if not put on a new course that takes us further from our ideals of equality. There will always be people who are deeply invested in hate and inequity. It is the people they have seduced with their rhetoric and lies that we need to connect with. You cannot hate them and do this work. Learn where they are coming from; have open, honest conversations with them; and share your own experiences. 

We’ve never realized the fullness of the potential of the United States of America. A lot of that lands squarely on the active and passive supporters of white supremacy. From the founders of this country who allowed slavery to be legal to the Compromise of 1877 which ended reconstruction early and ushered in the Jim Crow south. From stolen land and broken treaties with Native Americans to the residential schools that sought to eradicate all Native culture from frightened children. From the politicians on both sides who compromised with segregationists in the mid 20th century to the immigration policies of the Trump administration..

It’s easy to blame Trump for where we are now, but he is just the fruit of a deeply rooted tree. If you’ve been wondering when it would be time to act, it’s now. Write, talk, march, petition, stand up for what you believe. Too many stood silent while Trump spoke, too many “humored” him or pandered to his supporters. Not just elected officials and people with “power,”, but you and I, our neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family. I can only hope that the extreme actions we are seeing now will wake people up to the underlying problems in our republic.

Support BIPOC leaders, their vision is clearer than most right now. Listen as they speak about holding leaders accountable, about the long history of injustice in the U.S., and about how the time to act is now. People need to be held accountable for their speech, their actions, and their inaction. 

I want to live in a country where I don’t have reason to worry about how badly the police will hurt my African-American friends, where my trans friends can go out at night without fear of being assaulted, and where people don’t have to march just to have their civil and human rights recognized. 

I’m an almost 50 year old, bisexual, cis, white woman. Part of my job is to talk with white people of my generation and older about racism and white supremacy. I support youth and BIPOC leadership through words and action while fostering communication with older generations of white people who often find current social justice language and concepts to be alienating. I listen and hear, write and speak.

How about you?