Blurred Lines Between Making America “Great” & Terrorizing It
For four years, the lines between Trump supporters, white supremacists, Neo-Nazi’s , and domestic terrorists continuously blurred. Yet it took the siege of the Capitol building for the rest of the nation to wake up and truly see the bigotry of the Trump presidency and the hate that it incited.
What about America was ever great? We are a nation that was founded on theft: of land, of human life, of freedom. The very expansion of this nation was at the expense of pain that people of color faced at the hands of white supremacy. A “great” America, to Trump supporters, is one that secured their supremacy, one where their power was not threatened but instead protected by silencing voices of minority groups, by suppressing Black votes.
Throughout the 4 years in which Donald Trump was in office, the nation has witnessed him enable the ignorant behaviors of his supporters. His campaign and eventual presidency was the first time in history when the lifespan of campaign slogans and merch outlived an election.
As the New York Times puts it, “by 2016, red hats of any variety drew double takes.”
Make America Great Again found it’s way onto hats, lawn signs and even flags that remained relevant long after November 3 2016. This slogan came to represent something larger than just a slogan; it became synonymous with hate, bigotry, white supremacy and now, terrorism.
For four years, the lines between Trump supporters, white supremacists, Neo-Nazi’s , and domestic terrorists continuously blurred. Yet it took the siege of the Capitol building for the rest of the nation to wake up and truly see the bigotry of the Trump presidency and the hate that it incited.
The sheer refusal to accept the election results says a lot about how Donald Trump and his supporters were heavily bothered by the Black votes that came together and led Joe Biden into victory this election.
As Congress confirmed Biden’s win, Donald Trump quickly took to Twitter (which he is now permanently banned from), urging former Vice President Pence to override the results. When Pence refused, Donald Trump unfollowed him on Twitter and ranted: “You’ve failed us.”
“Us”, as we would all come to realize in the coming hours, meant Trump’s loyal supporters who raided the Capitol (as it seems) by his countenance when he tweeted: “JANUARY SIXTH. SEE YOU IN DC!” on December 30th.
The language used to describe Black Lives Matter protesters in comparison to the domestic terrorists who raided government property 3 weeks ago was significantly stark. Tomi Lauren for example seemed to bite her own words when a tweet from last summer that condemned BLM resurfaced; it hauntingly could’ve described the savage behavior of the Trump supporters 3 weeks ago:
“How does looting rioting and destroying your own community bring justice to anyone”
The same could be said for election day when Lauren tweeted:
“If @realDonaldTrump were to lose (he won’t) his supporters will go to work tomorrow just as we do everyday. When Biden loses, his “supporters” will likely loot and riot. Tells you everything you need to know! #Trump2020”
In a way, she was right: this tells us everything we need to know on how the tables have turned. Unlike what Lauren stated in November, the attack on the Capitol building is perhaps the biggest example of Donald Trump inciting violence and encouraging the behavior of his supporters.
When people wanted Donald Trump to address the nation, instead of going on live TV he went to Twitter. His eventual message to the nation, which later appeared in what seems to be a pre recorded video, did not urge his followers to stop but rather said that he loved them. When he had a chance to condemn his supporters’ actions, he did not, and that points to the fact that it was premeditated.
Unlike the claims of many raiders, this raid was not an attack on democracy. Images of these domestic terrorists vandalizing the American flag and replacing it with MAGA and confederate flags points a lot to the fact that it was never about “protecting “ democracy either.
The motive was to protect the pride to be blissfully racist that Trump’s presidency gave them. It was about reclaiming the supremacy that they knew would be threatened with Trump out of office.
The way these terrorists responded to the police officers who (without much force) tried to tame their behavior, says a lot about the principles behind Blue Lives Matter. The so called #BlueLivesMatter movement wasn’t about being pro police or protecting police lives, it was simply about being Anti-Black Lives Matter. Unfortunately because of these principales, it did not come as a surprise to me when the police failed to prevent this outrage from occurring.
One cannot assume that such behavior wasn’t expected, considering that this is not the first time Trump supporters have acted violently. Keep in mind Trump’s supporters are the same people he called “very fine people” after James Alex Fields deliberately ran over and killed Heather Hayer with his car at the 2017 Charlotsville Attack.
There is such a sharp difference in the way law enforcement handled Black Lives Matter, who protested against police brutality, versus Trump supporters, who rioted against the truth and a loss of power. It’s illogical that the national guard prepared for a peaceful protest against the murder of a unarmed black man days in advance, but not for the confirmation of election results between Joe Biden and a candidate whose supporters are known for being violent.
Granted, in a time of history where a billionaire with no political background can become the POTUS, nothing really makes sense.
There was no preparation for how Trump supporters would react to these results (for a second time) because law enforcement blatantly condemns white supremacy, the two go hand in hand. Evidently, white Trump supporters are not just supporters of Trump, they are white supremacists, and those who breached the Capitol did so because they wanted to remind the nation how far they’re willing to go to reclaim their power.
Although America was blind to the ignorance of Trump and his supporters thus far, after this terrorist attack, no one can truly ignore it anymore. After a year like 2020, many people expected for 2021 to instantly become better. But time is a social construct, and as we’ve learned, history will continue to repeat itself until the wrongs of those before us and the roots of injustice are dealt with.
Until the very ideas that birthed white supremacy dissolve, the MAGA mentality will always come back in different forms, long after Trump and his supporters are gone, because ideas never die they reincarnate into each generation.
