Goodman Grey
01-10-2021, 11:42 PM
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/10/opinions/capitol-attack-white-supremacy-daniel-black/index.html
Two words: White supremacy. It's undeniable now, unmistakable. What happened on Wednesday was simple: Donald Trump told White people that America had been stolen from them, and he summoned them to Washington to take it back.
If these overwhelmingly White invaders had instead been Black, the news headline would have read: "Massacre in the Nation's Capital." There is no damn way throngs of Black people could have similarly smashed their way into that citadel of world power without losing their lives en masse. Only with White privilege does such reprehensible behavior not meet deadly reprisals.
In America, Whites enjoy the privilege of acting out as they please without fear of being brutalized by the police.
The incident reminded me of scenes from D.W. Griffith's racist 1915 film, "The Birth of a Nation," in which White men chase Black men who run frantically for their lives. It's a caricature of race relations in a country that has been honest about its history.
White supremacy is unwilling to surrender its reign. It declared itself alive and well at the Capitol, and, for the most part that day, the authorities left it alone.
Self-righteous White supremacy has never felt the need to hide. The hangings of Black bodies were never a one-person act. Indeed, lynchings were public events where entire communities of Whites gathered -- including children -- to watch and cheer as Black life was decimated. Lynching was an American ritual, something of an American tradition, which the government at that time did not decry, and for which few were ever punished.
Imagine, again, if that mob had been Black. The rioters would not have gone safely home. They would have been arrested or beaten senseless or killed.
Many truths will become apparent in the coming days. What we know for sure is that White supremacy is protected and respected in America.
:rentfree
Two words: White supremacy. It's undeniable now, unmistakable. What happened on Wednesday was simple: Donald Trump told White people that America had been stolen from them, and he summoned them to Washington to take it back.
If these overwhelmingly White invaders had instead been Black, the news headline would have read: "Massacre in the Nation's Capital." There is no damn way throngs of Black people could have similarly smashed their way into that citadel of world power without losing their lives en masse. Only with White privilege does such reprehensible behavior not meet deadly reprisals.
In America, Whites enjoy the privilege of acting out as they please without fear of being brutalized by the police.
The incident reminded me of scenes from D.W. Griffith's racist 1915 film, "The Birth of a Nation," in which White men chase Black men who run frantically for their lives. It's a caricature of race relations in a country that has been honest about its history.
White supremacy is unwilling to surrender its reign. It declared itself alive and well at the Capitol, and, for the most part that day, the authorities left it alone.
Self-righteous White supremacy has never felt the need to hide. The hangings of Black bodies were never a one-person act. Indeed, lynchings were public events where entire communities of Whites gathered -- including children -- to watch and cheer as Black life was decimated. Lynching was an American ritual, something of an American tradition, which the government at that time did not decry, and for which few were ever punished.
Imagine, again, if that mob had been Black. The rioters would not have gone safely home. They would have been arrested or beaten senseless or killed.
Many truths will become apparent in the coming days. What we know for sure is that White supremacy is protected and respected in America.
:rentfree