Jan. 6, 2021 is a day that should forever live in infamy in American and world history.
On that day, the incessant misinformation and Q-Anon conspiracy theories espoused by the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, his allies in Congress and in conservative media finally reached a once unthinkable level.
Their incitement of violence and expressions of fascism over the past six years caused Trump’s sycophantic supporters to violently attack the United States Capitol.
This failed coup attempt was intended to stop the certification of the Electoral College for Trump’s duly elected successor, President Joseph R. Biden.
“This is the most violent assault on democracy in American history and a definite expression of fascism,” said UMKC School of Law graduate student and SGA member Nathan Cho. “I am disappointed that we as Americans are not taking this threat more seriously.”
Sadly, this sentiment has not been adopted by many of the Republicans in Congress who were seconds away from potentially being seriously injured or even killed by the “stop-the-steal” mob that terrorized the entire D.C. metro area that day.
Absolutely oblivious of the chaos that transpired, most Republicans’ in Congress still voted in defiance of the electoral votes cast in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
An astounding 138 House Republicans voted to object to the certification of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, and 121 members of their party did the same for Arizona’s 11 votes.
Unsurprisingly, this astonishing rejection of liberal democracy included the votes of Republican representatives and senators from both Kansas and Missouri.
In Kansas, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall and Reps. Ron Estes, Tracey Mann and Jake LaTurner proudly joined the QAnon caucus.
Not to be upstaged, self-appointed grand wizard of Trumpism Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, along with Reps. Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler, Billy Long, Jason Smith and Brian Luetkemeyer supported the fallible claims of voter fraud with their votes against certification as well.
Additionally, this abomination of our first amendment rights contributed to the deaths of seven American citizens.
Those deaths included one Capitol police officer who was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher, two other officers who killed themselves following the riot and five Trump supporters.
Of those five, 14-year veteran of the U. S. Air Force Ashli Babbit was fatally shot by the Secret Service as she attempted to breach a glass door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby.
In the aftermath of this carnage, it is now known that 140 Capitol Police officers were injured, and 38 have been infected with COVID-19. Additionally, those injured have reported cracked ribs, eye issues, stab wounds, smashed spinal cord discs and traumatic brain injuries.
One question that should be asked: what happened to the conservative mantra of “Law and Order” and “Blue Lives Matter?”
For America to finally defeat the scourge that is white nationalism, history must tell this story frankly and concisely.
Speaking the truth about this terrifying moment will undoubtedly provide the proper context to give future generations the opportunity to live peacefully in a true egalitarian society.
However, if this historic crime against our country is allowed to be written with the conjecture of white supremacist sympathizers of old, then America — and its democracy — will die in daylight instead of the darkness that permeates our troubled history.
White supremacist sympathizers successfully white-washed the horrors of slavery and the Civil War.
They systematically decimated any good that could have come from the Reconstruction Era for emancipated slaves in the late 19th century. And they created the Jim Crow segregation laws that lasted well into the 1960s.
“White supremacists existed before Trump was elected to office and will continue to exist in the U.S., until we take the necessary steps to eradicate white supremacist ideology,” said Mahreen Ansari, the president of the Student Government Association..
Now, those lies have driven their descendants to mythologize the lost cause movement of the confederacy, which was on full display throughout this contemporary insurrection.
All perpetrators must be apprehended and penalized to the fullest extent of the law for the crimes they committed.
If not, they will be given the legitimacy of their forefathers and will continue to terrorize America forevermore.
