Friend,

This past Saturday, the vast majority of Republican senators voted to acquit Trump and condone white supremacist attacks on our democracy.

As historian Keisha N. Blain noted:

“The failure to convict former President Donald Trump is unfortunate but not surprising. In effect, it reveals that violence and white supremacy will continue to shape American politics—as they have since the nation’s founding.”

Time and again, we have failed to confront the white supremacy upon which our country was and continues to be built.

To clarify: Racism is not merely overt expressions of bigotry, such as the Confederate flags and antisemitic clothing brandished by January 6th’s insurrectionists. More insidiously, it’s the systemic oppression built into our systems and societal structures, and a deep-rooted ideology about who should or should not be included, valued, and represented in our country.

We can only understand Trump’s rise to power—and the fact of his election in the first place—within this deep-rooted historical context.

As Ta-Nehisi Coates explained, Trump’s “political career began in advocacy of birtherism, that modern recasting of the old American precept that black people are not fit to be citizens of the country they built.”

It’s fitting, then, that his last attempts to cling to power were based on throwing out votes in Black and brown cities, including my hometown of Detroit. Even “moderate” Republicans have perpetuated the lie that the election was stolen, a lie that state-level lawmakers have been using in order to fuel a resurgence of anti-Black and anti-democratic voter suppression efforts.

This is all part of the larger systemic problem of white supremacy, which is at odds with the very nature of democracy. Before it rips our country apart, we must confront white supremacy and dismantle it.

	Rev. Jacqui Lewis, PhD @RevJacquiLewis
	Black people can’t object to a knee on our necks or kids getting pepper sprayed, but whiteness protects its own. This is who America is, and it’s who we’ve always been. And we need to decide if we want to be something different.

We must not heed the calls of Republicans to sweep this horrific period under the rug for the sake of a false “unity” that would only benefit those in power and continue the unjust status quo. Any “unity” that fails to address the threat and harms of white supremacy is not true unity, nor is it sustainable.  

It’s up to us to move forward in seeking justice, accountability, and healing. The racist GOP is afraid of our power, so we’ve got to use it while we can. Our activism and efforts to change the status quo are more important than ever. Stay tuned for actions to take. Know that this will take all of us. White supremacy is a deadly infliction on this country and we must all work together to defeat it.

Onward together,

Rashida