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The nation is reliving the violent January 6th attack in the U.S. Capitol, as Democratic Congressmembers deliver a devastating case against Donald Trump in the ex-President’s historic second Senate impeachment trial. These nine House managers have assembled video and other evidence detailing Trump’s months-long campaign of lies claiming the 2020 election was stolen, and his consistent encouragement of violence, leading up to the Capitol attack. Their case has been methodical and comprehensive, but leaves largely untouched a fundamental feature of the insurrection: white supremacy. Even if at least 67 Senators vote to convict Trump for the single charge of incitement of insurrection and more than half vote to ban him from ever again holding public office, this trial will not advance the struggle in this country to overcome systemic racism.
The U.S. Capitol would be an appropriate location to launch an antiracist movement. Soaring rhetoric has filled the hallowed halls for more than two centuries, extolling liberty, freedom, justice, and equality. Yet, as we were reminded Wednesday by Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, the delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, one of the House impeachment managers, “This capitol that was conceived by our founding fathers…was built by slaves.”
Throughout the videos of the Trump-incited mob rampaging through the building, many with Confederate...Read More→
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