This Is a Fascist Insurrection

We are in the middle of an active and ongoing coup attempt. It’s not a joke. It’s not a bunch of morons who don’t know how to use a taser. And it’s not just a bunch of disgruntled Republicans who don’t know how to lose an election. This is, very bluntly, a fascist insurrection. As usual, most media outlets are ensuring that we are completely incapable of understanding the gravity of what we’re currently facing.

Is this white supremacy in action? Yes, but more specifically, it’s a fascist insurrection. White supremacy is a broad term that could be applied to virtually every aspect of dominant US culture and systems. Fascism is white supremacy, but more specifically, fascism is what white supremacy looks like when it feels threatened.

One of the biggest dangers right now is that most of us cannot make sense of what’s happening. We can’t understand how fascism could be in the United States because we think fascism is unique to prewar Europe.

We don’t know that Hitler had incredible admiration for eungenicist scientists in the US, for the genocide committed against Native Americans, or for the system of Jim Crow. So much admiration, in fact, that the Nazi party sent researchers to the US to learn about how we did things here.

Fascism didn’t originate in Europe of the early twentieth century. As far as I can tell, the first obviously definable fascists arose during the era of American Reconstruction, following the Civil War, when aggrieved Southern whites participated in orgies of horrific anti-black violence across the South.

If we don’t know this - if we nod our heads in agreement when mainstream media commentators call this “shocking,” or say, “nobody could have seen this coming,” or ask with seeming sincerity, “Is there any historical precedent for this?,” then we would be well-served by changing our sources of information. Because there are plenty of people who have been sounding this alarm for years.

The greatest danger of our inability to understand right now is our inability to act. Because we can’t understand, we think things must be hopeless. That, or if we just close our eyes long enough, maybe we’ll inevitably return to the version of America we grew up with. Neither of those things are true, and both of those beliefs are paralyzing. They increase the likelihood of the coup’s success.

The things to do right now, if we haven’t started yet, include thinking about opportunities we have for meaningful resistance. That might mean speaking truth to our communities and to our politicians if we are safe enough to do so. It might mean taking time to think of how we will be able to offer protection to the most vulnerable in our communities. It might mean a lot of things, but most importantly, it means taking the time to think specifically about what this situation means for us in our local contexts.

I have to make an important point about what resistance to fascism does not look like. It does not look like ridicule, shit-talking, or claims of moral superiority. We have to understand that Trumpism is a cult. People join this cult because they feel alienated and they’re looking for a sense of community and solidarity. They want to feel heard, dignified, and respected. Like with all cults, the only way many of them will be able to leave the cult is if they feel they have somewhere else to go. Weaponizing language like terrorist, traitors, or “enemies of democracy” serve to further alienate. Using this language may seem like a form of resistance, but it’s likely to only fuel fascism more.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be held accountable. I’m not saying we don’t need to be speaking the truth as much as humanly possible. I’m not saying there may not be a need to use force. I’m saying there’s a helpful way to do this, and there’s an unhelpful way to do this. Accountability, truth, and resistance are desperately needed. But trying to use fascist forms of propaganda for good, like using words to create an enemy image in other people’s minds, will only empower fascism. It’s like quicksand. If we resist it the wrong way, we’re only going to make our situation worse.

While the insurrection at the capitol on Wednesday only created more enthusiasm for a lot of Trump supporters, there are others who’ve been a little shaken by the events. Some of them seem to be waking up to reality. Let’s be careful not to fall back on our own stereotypes about Trump supporters. Some of them are increasingly able to see what’s happening for what it is. Others are only becoming more radicalized. For those who have the privilege and space to do so, we need to remain connected to these people. We may be their only lifeline out of this death cult. And every time one of Trump's supporters leaves him, fascism has a little less power.