In Georgia, Ron Harris watched with terror and anger on Wednesday. Senate wins that were overshadowed by the insurrection in Washington, D.C. Ron Harris, a Democratic National Committee member, had been organizing for the U.S. The smiling photographs of white men armed with bats, shields and chemical spray in the Capitol building made her think of the grisly lynching photographs that were taken in the early part of the 20th century. so this shows how power is working in our nation, that they are doing so without remorse, without fear of any retribution." "We see folks shamelessly, shamelessly livestreaming sieging the Capitol. Wednesday's attack "was a show of force in service of maintaining a racial and social hierarchy," she said. African Americans lived through a reign of terror: lynchings, segregation, Jim Crow laws and increasing white supremacy. Her mind jumped further back to the nadir of American race relations, a period of American history from the end of Reconstruction to the early 20th century, when violent force was used to maintain the status quo. He was later charged with illegal entry, and dozens of others were also later arrested and charged, largely with illegal entry or violating curfew.įor Ashley Howard, a historian and scholar of violent protests and social movements at the University of Iowa, her mind didn't jump to protests over the summer seeking to end oppression and injustice. A newly elected West Virginia lawmaker livestreamed himself storming the Capitol as members of Congress hid for safety. Racism and anti-Semitism were on full display Wednesday, although some in the crowd said they don't subscribe to these sentiments. People sit on the street in front of a row of police officers during a rally in Minneapolis last year. All the while, she said, Black organizers and activists were being maligned. And so I felt frustrated that my friends and I survived Charlottesville and said that white supremacist violence was on the rise, that we survived and fought back."īut it felt as if no one was listening to their warnings. "There are just dots that aren't being connected. Its administrative building was set on fire last year, a white power symbol spray-painted on the ground. It sounded the alarm when elected officials were espousing or showing sympathy with white supremacist ideals over the past four years. She's a national activist for the Movement for Black Lives and co-executive director of the storied social justice center the Highlander Research and Education Center, in eastern Tennessee. The South has been saying that white supremacists in elected positions is a dangerous and consequential matter that this country needs to pay attention to." "Just because folks don't believe those of us that come from targeted and marginalized communities doesn't mean that we haven't been predicting this all the while. "Those of us that are Black, brown, Indigenous, AAPI, Southern and rural and that had watched and studied history since the 1800s know that this is actually very, very possible in America," she said. Cries of "this is not what America is" or "no one could have predicted this" were frequent.Ĭonsider This from NPR Race And The Capitol Riot: An American Story We've Heard Before Political pundits and elected officials in Washington, D.C., expressed shock that this could happen in the United States. Two pipe bombs were found at the Democratic and Republican headquarters. One police officer later died from his injuries. but you have to go home." Prior to the mob storming the Capitol, he'd told the rally of his supporters to "fight like hell." By the end of the day, one person was killed by a police officer and three others had died. The president took a different tone on Wednesday than this summer, when he called overwhelmingly peaceful protesters for racial justice "thugs," "agitators" and "looters." He tweeted, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." He threatened protesters outside the White House with "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons."īut when the Capitol was stormed Wednesday, Trump told the extremists threatening to execute Democrats and target journalists and Black Lives Matter activists, "We love you. Nuny Nichols prepares free food for people who gathered in June 2020 at the site where George Floyd was killed while in police custody.
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