The gallows erected before the Capitol on January 6, 2021, eerily evoking centuries of white men taking “justice” into their own hands. Although the gallows were intended to send a message to politicians who refused to overthrow the election (notably the vice president), the symbolism was not lost on people of color—whose votes were largely responsible for the election’s actual outcome. (Tyler Merbler from the United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Some question why we should commemorate, or even be concerned about, the anniversary of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at our U.S. Capitol. As the events of that day played out on live television before our shocked eyes, we witnessed a defeated president pour fuel on the outrage of more than two thousand supporters, inciting them to march from the Ellipse to the U.S. Capitol and “fight” to save his presidency. An increasingly violent mob followed those orders, marching to the Capitol complex, climbing the walls of the edifice, attacking the Capitol Police, breaking windows, and raging through the Capitol halls as they shouted for the blood of leaders from both parties whose offensive acts consisted of upholding the Constitution. Destruction, injuries, and death ensued. Later, multiple videos, police communications, and maps compiled by The New York Times provided a forty-minute narrative of the sequence of events. Today, more than 750 insurrectionists have been charged and a House committee is investigating how and why these events took place, in an effort to prevent future threats.
Let’s not twist what happened with rationalizations or justifications. January 6, 2021, was not simply about one political group upset that their candidate had lost the election. The events of that day connect centuries of ugly American history to current-day realities.
The Reverend James Lawson, one of the originators of the nonviolence movement in America, said during a February 2021 workshop about that day, “I do not think that we have the leadership in our country to deal with the multiplicity of issues that are wrapped up in the January 6 invasion of the Capitol.” He went on to note that the nation has never called out or punished white supremacy. Certain kinds of violent crimes have been approved of by the failure to move against them. Lawson further noted that in Western nations violence has historically been elevated above justice and nonviolent political activism as a means of maintaining power and security.
We ask you to think about the role white supremacy played in the January 6 attack and what role it’s playing in the all-out attacks on our democracy. That is, what did the January 6 insurrection and those rioting against the presidential election results have to do with white supremacy and racism? According to a national survey conducted by Foreign Policy (FP), only a minority of the rioters were formally connected with the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and other white supremacist groups. But a majority (93 percent) were white and nearly as many (86 percent) were men. And the number-one characteristic of the rioters was their belief in a “great replacement” theory, which posits that the Democratic Party is working to replace a majority-white voting population with people of color. This statistic is telling, and key to what many people of color have considered obvious throughout the divisive politics of the past few years: that many in this country are uncomfortable with the nation’s increasing diversity—whether of race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or culture—and some are so threatened by it that they will seek extreme means of altering election results that they just “know” are not “right” (i.e., not aligned with their own beliefs). Others, less extreme, are easily convinced that results trending in a direction that challenges their domination must be fraudulent.
The post–Civil War Reconstruction era and the 1960’s civil rights era both have at their core the belief in the right of all Americans to vote. Indeed, the majority of Americans profess that belief to this day. Yet their doubt about recent election results, fanned by the opportunistic politics of power, is threatening this core belief about voting rights, which is the foundation of our democracy. The result: laws that enforce restrictions and proofs upon people of color, making access to the franchise more difficult than ever for many. And this is despite numerous investigations from a wide variety of organizations. Jim Crow 2.0.
The current wave of restrictions can be traced to 2013, when the Supreme Court, in Shelby County v. Holder, did away with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, a “pre-clearance” section that required states to submit any changes in their voting laws to federal review. The objective of Section 5 was to inhibit discriminatory practices. With the Shelby decision we saw increased legislation affecting elections and voting processes in the very states with the most egregious histories of voter discrimination.
Fast forward to today, and we are finding numerous voter suppression bills—strict voter identification laws, the closing of polling places, limitations on voting hours, the purging of citizens from voter rolls, and more—being passed in several states, all deliberately making it harder for Black and Brown people and those who are economically disadvantaged to exercise their democratic right. The changes in the political power base when African Americans and other people of color more fully exercise that right continue to be met with huge resistance. A recent article in The Guardian (November 2019) extensively examined the fight to vote, questioning whether the United States is still a democracy and why it denies millions of its citizens the right to vote:
The struggle for the right to vote in the US has existed as long as the country itself. In 1789, after the ratification of the Constitution, suffrage was extended only to white, property-owning men. Following the abolition of slavery in the 19th century, black people were permitted to vote, but after a brief period when black politicians began to win elections, the white majority began to institute restrictions like those that motivated King’s march from Selma.
American democracy, it turns out, was and still is under attack. It is wise to reflect on what really happened on January 6, 2021, and what so many states are doing subsequently to restrict voting rights through legislation, including redrawing legislative districts, limiting days and times for voting, restricting mail-in ballots, and limiting polling locations. Members of Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) groups who are not in power are disproportionately impacted by the results of these legislative attacks in many states. As one columnist from The New Yorker put it, “The future of the country as a multiracial democracy depends on this battle.” Although the impacts are generally greater for people of color—especially those who are economically challenged—these attacks on democracy affect all who believe in a democratic society that pledges to deliver “liberty and justice for all.”
We cannot remain silent. We must be committed to courageous action in defense of our democracy. LWV has a culture of “never appearing to be partisan.” That doesn’t mean we are not political in our advocacy of voting rights and fair elections. We should NOT soft pedal the truth. Rather, we should support the facts and use our voices as a bullhorn to educate voters on what LWV knows to be the factual truth. Certainly the right to vote in the United States is not negotiable.
LWV must work harder to build community coalitions with organizations and groups to strategize and enact the kind of nonviolent campaigns that historically have created change all across the country. Revolutions can take place without violence, and it is time for us to recommit ourselves to securing voting rights for all.
The world is watching America: How will we respond to the threats to our democracy?
—Pat Coulter and Marilynne Wilander
