There are a lot of ways to look at the January 6 attack on our Nation’s Capital, and one of those is to look through the lens of
race. The events at the Capitol Building
earlier this past summer and now on January 6 make the state of race in our
country quite clear. Comparing the vastly
different police and military reactions to the summer’s Black Lives Matter
protests and last week’s insurrection, it is easy to see both racial bigotry
(an assumption that black people are more violent and less worth of respect and
consideration) and racism (the use of organs of the state to institutionalize
and act on that bigotry in terms of policies and practices). Not only is the racial bigotry and racism
obvious, the more light shone upon it demonstrates how ridiculous it is. However, it is much more than just
ridiculous, as these recent events demonstrate the risk to the country of
unfettered bigotry and racism.
The difference in the treatment of a group of very racially
diverse protestors with a group that was almost entirely white is obvious to
see. Just contrast the pictures of police
and military in combat gear with combat weaponry lined up in the hundreds
surrounding the Capitol building as BLM prepared to protest, to the pictures of
a relatively small police presence with limited weaponry and few reinforcements
on January 6. Given what was known about
each group, it is easy to see the ridiculousness of racial bigotry. According to research at Harvard’s Kennedy
School (Chenoweth and Wallach), BLM protests were largely peaceful, with a few
exceptions, and the violence that occurred was not insignificantly from police
or right-wing counter protestors. In
96.3% of the BLM protests, there was no property damage or police
injuries. The study’s authors concluded that
“[T]he protests were extraordinarily nonviolent, and extraordinarily nondestructive,
given the unprecedented size of the movement’s participation and geographic
scope.” Contrast this to what we are now
learning was known about the Capitol rioters.
The FBI not only had intelligence that there was likely to be violence
by a large group determined to invade the capital, they also knew that dozens
of known domestic terrorists who were on “watch lists” were intended to be in
Washington.
This demonstrated the ridiculousness of how these events
were dealt with so differently. While
there was no reason to anticipate destruction or violence at BLM events, the
police and military preparation was very robust and aggressive, culminating in
the violent clearing of a peaceful protest in Lafayette Park so that the
President could be photographed holding up a bible in front of the church
across from the park. Peaceful
protestors were attacked, and pepper-sprayed, for a political photo op. Contrast that with pictures of police taking selfies with the invaders of the Capital and
with police opening up barriers to allow protestors on the Capitol
grounds. Yep, that is ridiculous. It is not just ridiculous though; it is also
risky.
Do we know if the reason for this very different law
enforcement treatment is racial bigotry or racism, or both? It sure seems that way, and we will know more
soon as the investigation is just starting.
However, what we can see very clearly is that a great deal of risk is
created by these attitudes and actions.
Some have known about the risk racism presents for a long time. We can see this awareness broadening recently,
as Donald Trump’s FBI concluded in the past year or so that our greatest
national security threat is right-wing, white supremacist, domestic
terrorism. FBI Director Christopher Wray
said, "What I can tell you is that, within the domestic terrorism bucket
category as a whole, racially-motivated violent extremism is, I think, the
biggest bucket within that larger group, and within the racially-motivated
violent extremist(s) bucket, people subscribing to some kind of white
supremacist-type ideology is certainly the biggest chunk of that." The mainstream public dialogue about race and
racism rarely goes to risk, as our dialogue is more often a debate about the
extent to which racism is real, or a problem, or significantly impactful in
people’s lives. We need to shift the
race conversation more often onto this topic.
Think about the risk of January 6.
According to some, we were literally a couple of minutes from what
might’ve been a hostage-taking and/or massacre of members of Congress. This would not only have been a human
tragedy, but it also had the potential to greatly destabilize our government,
create a constitutional crisis, and perhaps even a successful coup by Trump and
his supporters. If we are unable to
confront, combat, and significantly reduce white supremacy, we put our ability
to govern at risk. These are the most
apparent existential threats that unmitigated racism evokes. There are many other threats related to our
ability to lead in the world, to develop beneficial relationships, and to be
the country to which the world’s best creative and innovative talent wants to
come.
We are an increasingly racially diverse country, and that is
not going to change. In fact, we are
going to become even more racially diverse, with whites becoming less than 50%
of the population in about 25 years. Is
the racial bigotry and racism on full display now a reaction or backlash to our
changing racial demographic? I think
yes, to at least some extent. I also
think some level of reaction and backlash to real change is inevitable, whether
we are talking about the shift from in-person to online-based banking or the
changing racial composition of our country.
We can look at this backlash as not only inevitable but also a sign that
real change is taking hold. Change heightens risk though, and can bring about a crisis. The Japanese symbol for crisis is a character
that includes words equivalent to “dangerous opportunity.” The obviousness and ridiculousness of racism
is on full display, and I believe this is evidence that real change is
underway. Can we manage the crisis? Can
we mitigate the risk as we move through this period, so that we can stand on
the other side celebrating one more big step forward?
