Two recent political events in our nation are particularly disturbing for anyone who cares about our democracy. Friday a week ago, the Republican National Committee officially described the January 6 attack on the Capitol as “legitimate political discourse.” When I initially heard this insane description, I thought it had been misquoted. But no, that was exactly what the RNC said. This violent attack on the Halls of Congress resulted in 4-6 deaths (depending on how you reckon those deaths) and more than 150 police officers injured (some so seriously that five months after the attack seventeen officers were still unable to return to work due to the severity of their injuries). Insurrectionists sought the deaths of Vice President Pence and Democratic members of Congress. Among the insurrectionists were neo-Nazis, Klansmen, various other white supremacist groups, and QAnon fanatics. A few current Republican members of Congress have denounced the RNC’s characterization of the attack on democracy, but the overwhelming majority remain either silent or in support of the RNC’s description of January 6. (As of today, more than 140 former Republican officials have denounced the RNC’s description of January 6. It’s amazing how many politicians develop some sense of integrity once they leave office.) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “We saw it happen. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next. That’s what it was.” (I applaud McConnell’s response to the RNC. However, I am reminded that he previously blocked the naming of an independent bipartisan commission to examine the attack. With Trump’s hold on the Republican Party beginning to slip, perhaps the Senate Minority Leader is preparing to jump ship should that hold weaken even more. McConnell’s counterpart in the House of Representatives, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, however, initially defended the RNC resolution regarding the nature of the January 6 attack. (The RNC also voted to censure Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for participating in the inquiry into the January 6 insurrection. Few Republicans in Congress have denounced this censure.)
The second disturbing event in our nation was the January 7, 2022 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court which blocked efforts to allow for a fair representation of Blacks in Alabama congressional districts. This is another tragic move by the Court to gut the protections provided by the landmark Civil Rights Voting Act of 1965. The decision was 5-4 with Chief Justice Roberts once again joining the so-called “liberals” on the Court. I think it’s fair to label the five Justices who seem hellbent on disenfranchising people of color “racist.” Before you think I am unfair or exaggerating, I refer you to my article entitled “Racism Is as Racism Does.” And yes, I know that one of those five Justices is Black. However, most Blacks see him as a hypocrite and traitor to his race and refer to him as an “Oreo” (Black on the outside but white on the inside. I somewhat resent that characterization. Not all whites are racist and insane. Even the late Justice Antonin Scalia said there was no logic to Thomas’ legal reasoning.) The five Justices who have repeatedly voted to disenfranchise people of color are all Republicans. Like their colleagues in Congress, they realize that the only way Republicans can win national elections is to suppress voters of color. The Supreme Court has a long history of reactionary decisions which have negatively impacted the progression of justice and fairness in this country. Consider the Dred Scott decision, Plessy vs. Ferguson (which established the abominable principle of “separate but equal”), and the blatantly unjust “Citizens United” decision which essentially allows billionaires and corporations to buy and control members of Congress and to continue an economic system which impoverishes and oppresses people of color. (The Earl Warren Court, which reversed many unfair laws and practices, was an exception to the historical tendency of a reactionary and racist Supreme Court.)
Recently Susan and I watched the powerful movie Selma which chronicles the struggle for voting rights for Blacks in the southern town of Selma, Alabama. Before the historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a 26-year-old unarmed Black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, was murdered by a state trooper. The trooper was named James Bonard Fowler. Forty-five years after this murder, Fowler confessed to the crime and expressed remorse over his action. He was sentenced to only six months in prison and served only five months.
In the movie, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. says the following at Jackson’s funeral:
“Who murdered Jimmie Lee Jackson? We know a state trooper acting under the orders of George Wallace pointed the gun and pulled the trigger. But how many other fingers were on that trigger? Who murdered Jimmie Lee Jackson? Every white lawman who abuses the law to terrorize. Every white politician who feeds on prejudice and hatred. Every white preacher who preaches from the Bible and stays silent before his congregation. Who killed Jimmie Lee Jackson? Every Negro man and woman who stands by without joining this fight as their brothers and sisters are humiliated, brutalized, and ripped from this earth! When I heard that President Kennedy had been shot and killed and when I heard just yesterday that Malcolm X, who stood in this very church three weeks ago, had been shot and killed, I turned to my wife Coretta and said the same thing I often say when one of our leaders is struck down: Our lives are not fully lived if we’re not willing to die for those we love and for what we believe.”
Racism today, although more blatant now than in the past couple of decades, has evolved into more sophisticated forms.
Racism today, although more blatant now than in the past couple of decades, has evolved into more sophisticated forms. Instead of lynchings we have unfair and racially motivated convictions and incarcerations. Instead of Plessy vs. Ferguson and “separate but equal” (which was always separate but never equal) we have more cunning and sinister forms of exclusion. Instead of state laws and practices which openly deny people of color their constitutional right to vote we have deceitfully labeled forms of legislation that curtail the voting opportunities of people of color. Instead of slavery we have an economic system designed to put more wealth into the hands of the rich while leaving people of color fewer avenues to survive, much less thrive, in our cruel and heartless form of capitalism. Instead of the KKK we have racist police who gleefully target people of color most often with impunity. (Yes, I know there are good cops. But if you don’t know that we also have many corrupt and racist cops in the United States, you need to open your eyes to the realities of our abysmal criminal system. Go to the Equal Justice Initiative website for a shocking exposure of the racial injustice which is still operative in this “land of the free.”)
In this nation where racism is still rampant, people of color are paying with their lives (literally and figuratively because a life lived in desperation and with economic oppression is a “living death”). So, who is responsible for this lethal injustice? Whose finger is literally and figuratively on the trigger? Politicians and judges; police officers and those guilty of exploitative business practices; preachers and church leaders who have abandoned the example and teachings of Jesus; members of Congress and state legislatures who have sold their souls to the highest bidder and pander to the base desires, fears, and prejudices of the ignorant and bigoted; those who have fallen prey to the greed and narcissism of our culture; the silent and indifferent majority who have no interest in being empathetic or just; and those who have abandoned their commitment to the principle of “liberty and justice for ALL.”
If you continue to support politicians who repeatedly vote to disenfranchise, impoverish, and oppress people of color, your finger is on the trigger.
Whose finger is on the trigger? All the above, but ultimately the guiltiest fingers belong to those who vote for and support the politicians who make the laws which allow for the current forms of racism and injustice. In 2022, the political party most responsible for this disgrace threatening our democracy is the Republican Party. If you are a Republican and if you have any sense of integrity and decency, you have only two choices: radically do all you can to change the wicked character of your party or leave it and join others who are committed to a just and humane society. If you continue to support politicians who repeatedly vote to disenfranchise, impoverish, and oppress people of color, your finger is on the trigger. You are ultimately responsible for the actions of those you put in office. The buck stops with you, and time and eternity will expose the fingerprints on the trigger of America’s original sin.
