If The Trump Terrorists Had Been Black On The White House Lawn

Just imagine had those people who rushed the White House, the nation’s capitol, just imagine had they been Black people. You can only imagine the outcome, the bloodshed, the arrests, the beatings that would have taken place had those people — who wound up mostly unharmed — had been Black people.

We all know what would have happened. We all know how many jails in Washington, DC would have been filled, we all know we would be spending today, January 7th, 2021 mourning Black lives — just like we mourn my people after violent anti-black police killings we hear about or see on the news. Today would have been a day full of tears or shock because we know Black people in the United States of America are treated or handled very differently.

This country’s history — although had it not been for Black people — is all about the violence done unto Black people. We have had no peace in “the land of liberty” and the very politicians who have created policy after policy, law after law to deny us full participation in its democracy, allowed a gang of white people to stomp on their sacred ground because they cater to white people.

We must acknowledge that the police had a hand in yesterday’s events. It was the white supremacy, also white privilege, that allowed everything to happen in DC. The guilty were given a free pass to do what they did. It happened easily. So easily, that you would think it was meant to happen, that it should have happened — because they were white people.

I posted this article’s title as my Facebook status yesterday. As soon as I did many people “liked” it and agreed. There has been do denying it. There has been no pushback against what I said. There have been comments made in agreement — even examples shared regarding past or present events that drive this message home even more.

We are not living in a Black woman’s or a Black man’s America. We are still living in — according to James Brown — a man’s world. But it is a white man’s world, and the person currently occupying the White House knows this. He made all of the events yesterday happen. He knew he could once again galvanize his angry white base to push them into the actions they committed.

The question is, how far will white men like him get before this country makes a complete about face to tune off, to turn away white supremacist rhetoric and leadership before it destroys itself? How far will this country’s leadership let white privilege get before it no longer as a soul to claim? Who will reclaim this country with a new story to tell when future children need a narrative to hold onto as they strive to honor their homeland?

Black children, and even brown and red children, who will see the images from the terrorist actions of January 6th, 2021 in Washington, DC will wonder why their family members were not there. They might wonder why People of Color did not participate. But, they will learn to understand that it was not our place and our time. They will learn all of what they need after reading about this country’s history; that we were not to be included in an attempted coup that was never for our liberation.

They will also learn that we, especially Black people, lived to see another day as we viewed this country continuing to fall apart.