The Looming Danger
Folks, things seem to be really bad right now. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news this close to Christmas but I came upon a Twitter thread that really encapsulates so well, I had to share and write about it. It comes from Dr. William Horne, a professor at Villanova. Here’s how he begins it:
First of all, I love that there is a class about White Backlash. We really need that. Second, ominous that he says things are more bleak than a civil war. I mean, what could be worse? He goes on to explain.
Got all that? In essence, what he is saying is that a dangerous situation exists when the state works in concert with vigilantes, whether by directly helping them or failing to hold them accountable. The best historical example of this from outside the United States is how Hitler and the Nazis used their “brownshirt” groups of thugs to intimidate voters and sow chaos. This is especially dangerous because it creates a shadow army of sorts that is largely unaccountable for its actions.
But democracy will save us, right? Not if democracy itself goes away. How? Dr. Horne explains:
Seems bad! And it is. By limiting the two major recourses the opposition (Democrats, liberals, progressives, whatever you want to call them) has at their disposal (voting and protest) Republicans can ensure that the course we’re on is set in stone. As he points out, we don’t have to guess or assume what is going on. It has happened many times before in our shared history.
It’s important to keep in mind that this isn’t about a 50/50 split in popularity. In poll after poll, conservative policies and ideas are routinely less popular with Americans than progressive ones. What we have is an unpopular minority party using distinctly anti-democratic tactics to remain in power, in direct opposition to what the people actually want in their supposedly representative government. This flies in the face of American ideals.
Dr. Horne discusses this illusionary binary in his next few posts.
Let’s unpack this. For decades, conservative movements and the far-right have been given legitimacy by the media under the guise of seeming neutral or unbiased. But the point of journalism isn’t to give a platform to every idea; instead, it aims to uncover the truth. If one party lies (about election fraud, vaccines, etc.) then the media should not treat them as legitimate or equal to the parties that do not. In order for people to truly understand the reality of what is happening, news organizations need to start covering this aspect truthfully.
Unfortunately, we live in an era where a person can simply ignore and tune out whatever they don’t want to hear. Unhappy with the coverage CNN gives? Try NewsMax. It’s largely a lie-spreading propaganda network (and has been found guilty of being such in court) but it has the appearance of being “news”. It isn’t. And as long as people continue to listen to lies that comfort them, we will be in this situation for a long time. And it’ll likely only get worse.
A number of people took issue with this thread. Dr. Horne addresses their complaints.
Dr. Horne makes a great point here. I’ve seen many conservatives complain that teaching about systemic racism and white supremacy is a form of indoctrination. Obviously, it is not. It is simply telling the truth about how our nation came to be. Indoctrination is what many of us were taught growing up, lies such as slavery wasn’t that bad, that slaveowners were genteel and kind, that racism ended with “I Have A Dream”. The list of lies created and propagated by white people goes on and on. And if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of race being involved here, too damn bad. This is a system created by white people, being gamed by white people, in order to maintain a white supremacist power structure.
Oh, and what about the few token Blacks and other POC who vote Republican or support Trump? Well…
Throughout virtually every age of history, there have always been members of the oppressed class who side with, support, and gain benefits from aligning themselves with the oppressors. This was true during slavery, during Reconstruction, and true in Nazi Germany. Their presence is tolerated because it loans an aura of legitimacy to the opposers. Ever notice how at every Trump rally the people right behind him are Black? Or there’s a Women For Trump sign? This is the same thing. It makes it easier for the oppressors to also integrate into communities they seek to control. You need to look no further than the scandal that broke this weekend when Kanye West’s publicist tried to intimidate and threaten an election worker to admit that she had committed fraud. She did not.
This is a serious situation we find ourselves in. Not just for popular progressive policies but also for democracy itself. It is very easy to envision a world ten years down the road where fascism in America is the everyday reality. If the people currently in power continue to operate like it’s business as usual in the face of this unprecedented threat, it’ll be game over for democracy in America.
Welcome to the Future of Trump’s America.