I Don’t Want to Start a War, but Captain America is a Black Woman
Black people do a great job at turning trauma into comedy but this time it wasn’t funny for me. On Wednesday, January 6, 2021 the world watched as Americans besieged their own Capitol, but this time, I couldn’t laugh. The U.S. Capitol, a symbol of democracy, order, and power was demolished by a group of people who crave a return to the white supremacy and lawlessness of the past. As the tweets, memes, and videos circulated social media, I couldn’t appreciate the comedy because this time, the tragedy was too close to home.
I’m a fourth generation Washingtonian and it’s my friends and family that work in the building white supremacists over took. Not only were our elected officials in harm's way, but everyday citizens trying to maintain their livelihood during a pandemic were at risk. A city built by the enslaved, nurtured by freemen, and inspired by the rich culture of generations of Black people, was being destroyed by white supremacists who don’t even belong there! If I engaged my community, I’m sure there are 7 or less degrees of separation between myself and the men sweeping the floors of the Capitol after terrorists walked safely back into their hotel rooms and through airports returning home to their loved ones feeling accomplished. Plagued by rising costs of living, pushing its people out of what was endearingly named The Chocolate City, I’m enraged after savages destroyed our home, Black people, yet again had to clean up America’s mess.
The legacy of the 45th President is one of hatred and betrayal, but he is not alone. This time, it wasn’t about politics. It was about racism and what happens when you leave microaggressions unchecked and threats ignored. For four years, Black Women have been warning the country about the danger of having a maniac in office while the good whites rationalled his antics and even voted for him a second time. Look at what it has come to, an insurrection.
Somehow, we’ve been warped to think the civil rights movement and Jim Crow is a releck of the past, a place we could never return to as a society. But here’s a little history lesson for the Coffee Till Champagne Community: The Hayes-Tilden Compromise of 1876 overturned the election, giving the GOP a win that ended reconstruction, emboldening the KKK and giving rise to Jim Crow policies. Jim Crow ended a mere 50 years ago, most of the teenagers and young adults of that era are the President's age, with Generation X and Millennial children. So now, after a 2020 of heightened distrust of police department’s across America, minorities now must naively believe a Biden-Harris’s administration will help protect us from terrorists so bold, they were ready for the Red Wedding - Capitol Hill Edition.
As Diversity and Inclusion initiatives take up a lot of cultural real estate at this moment, I’m wary of leaving these anti-racism training up to corporations and our workplace when right wing media actively fuels racism and conspiracy theories in every other facet of life doesn't seem sufficient. I don’t know the answers for Biden-Harris to build back better and nip white supremacy in the bud, but as always, I’m counting on a Black Woman, alumna of the Senate’s Judiciary committee to come through.
Author: Jasmine LaVerne