Racism in the call for Unity
The spin and rhetoric supporting racism is subtle and often comes as a trojan horse. After the rioters stormed the capital and it appears that many will actually, finally, be held accountable, conservative groups suddenly call for healing, compassion and forgiveness. It sounds reasonable when folks say “We cannot think about consequences, justice and accountability” for those involved directly or indirectly in the events that led to the storming of the capital, if we are to move forward together. As reasonable as it sounds, it is, nevertheless, a plea to maintain racism and elitism in the US.
There can be no forgiveness until a person admits that what they have done was wrong, to yourself and to those that you have done wrong and to feel and express regret — none of which has happened or looks like it will. Asking for forgiveness and clemency after taking rhetoric far enough to possibly face consequences for criminal actions is not about admitting wrong doing, its about avoiding those consequences, no self-reflection, no regrets, no chance to learn to do better. Too many people in the US seem to believe that to move past the events of hatred, violence and racism; to move past division and towards unity all we need to do is stand in a circle and forgive all of the hate and violence directed at our communities and sing “joy to the world”. Extending empathy and compassion to the “unheard” voices of “silent majority”, while not have that same empathy extended to communities of color targeted for poverty, illness, state sanctioned violence, resource theft, etc….
No matter how many pundits try to draw comparisons to Black Lives Matter and the recent insurrection, there is no justification in this comparison. This is just a misdirection; an attempt to avoid scrutiny and consequences; an attempt to make people that were horrified by the BLM protests, but ambivalent about the insurrection, feel better about their own hypocrisy and racism. The BLM protests and marches held throughout the country are are not the equivalent to the White Rage experience by the people that lost an election.
If you are intellectually incapable of seeing the difference between people, young and old, Black, Brown and White, from all social strata marching to protest the unjust murder of black men and women in their homes, running down the street, kids playing on swing sets, holding a toy gun in a walmart and a nearly all white crowd, waving symbols of racism and the confederacy and toxic masculinized patriotism, you are either ignorant beyond redemption or deliberately trying to justify the racist values and privileges that maintain your self- identity. You can have no interest in healing or unity only maintaining the systems of oppression that maintain the illusion of White America.
True healing for this country must start with acknowledgement of wrongdoing, demonstrated regret and a willingness to do better— There must be an effort to heal the rifts caused by hundreds of years of racism and violence; heal the pain experienced by the families and communities of the people shot by the state in their streets and homes, reunite and support families separated at the border, work for forgiveness from and justice for our Native Americans families, work to reverse that damage of inequities driven by for-profit prison systems within our marginalized and deliberately disempowered communities, acknowledge our history of genocide, slavery, elitism and acknowledge how our history drives the current events and circumstances, drives our biases and hatred, drives disempowerment and hopelessness. You cannot both ask for empathy for the deeds of the people involved (directly or indirectly) in the insurrection and condemn the BLM protests of last summer. You cannot use the BLM protests of last summer as justification for last weeks riots. One group fights for the right to walk down the street without fear of being murdered, the other wails against the changing face and color of the US and the loss of unfair and unearned advantages.