This is America

Last Wednesday, the world watched as a mob of President Trump’s supporters invaded the United States Capitol, barrelling over barricades, climbing construction structures, and threatening the safety of officers, Congresspeople, and the entire city of Washington, D.C., to prevent lawmakers from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

This highly coordinated assault on U.S. democracy and brazen act of white supremacy rests squarely on the shoulders of the president, his enablers and the right-wing media. For months they have tried to undermine the legitimacy of the November election and for the past four years they have used America’s painful legacy of slavery, discrimination, and hatred as an organizing tool to sow seeds of chaos in communities across the country and to incite racial violence against people of colour.

Responsibility for last week’s events also lies with the law enforcement officials whose warm reception of these insurrectionists differed vastly from the treatment peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors received last June. Those protestors, who were exercising their first amendment right to assemble, were met with flanks of armed national guardsmen and were eventually tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets for a photo-op by the president. This contrast, in essence, is America.

At AFRE, as we witnessed the machinery of U.S. democracy pushed to the brink, we were reminded of similar efforts by white right-wing extremists during South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy. In 1993, the country’s multi-party negotiations were stormed by armed formations and negotiators were forced into hiding as they were terrorised by the invaders. These events and others were designed to make the country’s first democratic election impossible. However, while they interrupted negotiations and took the country to the verge of a bloodbath, ultimately, they failed to frustrate the will of the South African people.

The struggles of the United States are not exceptional. This is an opportunity for the United States to look beyond itself, and to draw on global insights about how to nurture and protect democracy.

With one week left before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, we join others in calling for a swift response to this unprecedented act of terror and for action to protect and strengthen the U.S.'s multi-racial democracy. Most immediately, Congress must conduct a thorough investigation of the individuals who tried to usurp democracy with violence as well as the security failures of the U.S. Capitol Police and the tech platforms that were used to spread misinformation about the election. Congress also should censure the elected officials who, through their words and actions, fuelled these acts of violence.

Equally important, however, the time has come to abolish the electoral college, a system that was designed to keep political power in the hands of slaveholding, white men and that continues to produce the initially intended results. The failure to move on these steps will legitimise acts of racialised violence, and further embolden authoritarian leaders in South Africa, the U.S., and around the world to undermine democracy.

Healing from this moment also requires acknowledging and addressing how America’s racial history impacts the U.S. today. Even as the riots represent President Trump's exit from office, they are a potential harbinger of things to come. As white supremacist organisations call for a new wave of violent protests, many white people, particularly white men, see themselves not only as the victims of a “fraudulent election” but also of a changing society in which they have lost their place. The attack on the capitol was intended as a message to Washington about who belongs and who does not.

In this context of intensification, the U.S. and indeed the world needs visionary, connected and supported racial equity leaders all the more urgently. Our Fellows are already working in their communities to address these troubling dynamics, and we are hard at work to support them as they continue to lead.