A wrote another Twitter thread yesterday. I’m sharing the essay here as well (or you can read the original on Twitter).
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A man I’m related to (he calls himself a Republican, but doesn’t like Trump) wrote a Facebook post calling for unity. He didn’t say the word unity, he used language like “building bridges” and “validating viewpoints from both sides.” He’s not the only one. Republicans everywhere are waving the unity banner. Let’s not dwell in the past, they say. Sure we called for a mob to kill Pence and encouraged people with bombs and guns to storm the Capitol, but it’s time to move forward, let’s forgive and forget asap.
And I just want to say as your Internet Mom: Hey Kiddos, you’re skipping some steps. Coming together WON’T happen, literally CAN NOT happen, until there is justice.
We could try and skip the justice and just pretend we’re sincere about coming together. Only, we tried that for about the last 50 years (150? years), and it turns out, it doesn’t work. Pretending to come together benefits those in power, protects whiteness, and hurts everybody else. So before we wring our hands about togetherness, we need to tackle justice. Justice = appropriate consequences for those who hurt people, and for the people who were hurt. Consequences for those involved in the attack on the Capitol may look different for each person.
What should the consequences be for those who intended to kill? The ones who brought bombs, zip ties and other weapons? Who brought supplies and plans to build an actual gallows, hung a noose, and screamed “Hang Mike Pence”? At the very least, shouldn’t their consequences begin with arrest and prosecution for their crimes? Additional consequences could include things like getting fired, losing the right to vote, jail time, maybe a lifetime ban from Olive Garden. And perhaps no one will want to date them — some consequences we get to determine, and others just happen naturally.
What should the consequences be for those who only protested and then went home? If they didn’t break laws, I suppose the consequence is they get to go on as usual, anxiously waiting for Q to finally share the endlessly promised compelling evidence of fraud, and living life as the gullible targets of Trump’s con. (Trump knows they’ll keep sending money to his campaign any time he asks, so why would he stop asking?) If they were unmasked while they were in D.C., the natural consequence is a high likelihood of getting Covid 19, infecting their loved ones back home, and possibly experiencing lifelong debilitating effects from that infection. Or even dying.
What about the woman who was shot at the Capitol? Two of the biggest consequences for her? 1) She’s dead now, and 2) the MAGA crowd has turned on her, claiming she was Antifa — loyalty from fellow MAGAs is apparently not a consequence of dying in support of Trump.
What about politicians? What should the consequence be for Senators like Cruz and Hawley? And the 138 Republican House Members who voted against certifying the vote, even though they definitely knew there is zero evidence of election fraud, and that it was a free and fair election? Should they get to continue to hold office after trying to overthrow the results of an election that was determined free and fair in 30+ court cases? That’s a no brainer: of course they shouldn’t. The first tiny consequence I’ve seen? Marriott won’t donate to them.
What about the politicians who pushed people to storm the Capitol? Egged them on? Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, written to exclude Confederate Civil War traitors, says that “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress … who … having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same[.]” Seems like it applies here, no? (You can read more on this argument in this Sedition article at The Week.)
What about those who have to clean up the mess? The urine on the floor? The feces on the wall? How about those staffers who had to hide, terrified, while the attack was happening, and now have PTSD from the attack? What sort of consequences would bring them justice?
How about medical care? Bonuses for showing up to work under war-zone circumstances? What else?
You may be anxious to argue: What about the BLM RIOTS?? What about consequences for THOSE???? And you’re right, they should lead to consequences. The natural consequence of 250 years of police violence against Black and Brown people should be defunding and abolishing the police. We can definitely come up with something better than the current system, and we definitely should.
And while we’re here, guess what the natural consequence is, of founding a nation, while committing to upholding slavery and racism? Answer: 250 years of ruling white supremacy, government sanctioned marginalization for massive numbers of people, and a painfully divided country.
If unity is what you’re truly after, you can’t skip the justice part. What should the consequences be for Black people who have had to endure a white supremacist government and citizenry for their whole lives? In the U.S., wealth is power. On average, white families hold nearly 10 times the wealth of Black families, due to 250 years of policies that limit and punish Black people. Reparations, with the goal of moving toward a wealth-power-balance, seems like the bare minimum.
Speaking of finances, what should the consequence be for people who don’t work during the pandemic, in order to keep fellow citizens safe? And now can’t pay rent or buy food? $ 2000/month for every month of staying home seems like it would go a long way to bringing justice. Or what about essential workers who are required to risk their lives, every day, so that we can buy groceries and keep our hospitals running? What kind of consequences would bring justice to them?
What happens if we skip the consequences step yet again? Well, we end up with pieces of sh*t like Pedophile Protector Jim Jordan. He knew horrific sexual abuse of children was happening, did nothing about it, and received no consequences for that inaction. So he continues on, assuming he has permission to ruin people’s lives, facing no accountability.
Another example: A white male suicide bomber recently blew up a good chunk of Nashville. A woman had told the police that he was building a bomb. The police did not look into the bomber, but they did make the woman have a psych evaluation. So we see that not stopping the Nashville bomber was a natural consequence of many millennia of not listening to women and/or assuming women are witches. We have never given women justice, and it continues to cause horrible problems.
If those who attacked the Capitol don’t face consequences, they will come back and try again. And it will be worse. We know they are already organizing to return. If the politicians who egged on the attack don’t face consequences they will be emboldened in their deep corruption; they will lie and gaslight more, not less. If Trump doesn’t face consequences, he will continue sowing chaos and division, violence and death.
We may be able to picture a future where citizens come together, and it’s a beautiful picture, but that future is not possible until justice is achieved. Again: Justice = appropriate consequences for those who hurt people, and for those people who were hurt.
Prioritize justice and consequences before you wax poetic about coming together. Until the country sees justice, your calls for unity and bridge building ring hollow, paint you as insincere and untrustworthy, and hurt far more than they help.
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That is the end of the thread. I’ll add here: If you see someone call for unity, don’t trust them. They don’t have the country’s best interest in mind. They think they are being magnanimous, but really they are being selfish. They are uncomfortable facing the news. Maybe they are Republicans and don’t like seeing what the Republican party has become. Maybe they voted for Trump and now regret it. Maybe any political talk makes them uneasy because they sold their soul for a tax cut, so they’ll say talking about politics is rude. They want to move on, they want to focus only on pleasant things, and brush all this hard stuff under the rug. Do not let them.
If you see someone in your own life calling for unity, consider redirecting the conversation. Try a variation of: Certainly unity is a worthy goal, but unity is not possible until justice is served. I know it’s tempting to focus on unity instead of justice, because unity is pretty to look at, and justice requires really hard conversations about consequences and accountability. But now is the time for those hard conversations. What should the consequences be for sedition? Should traitors have their citizenship revoked? Why or why not?
Your turn. What are your thoughts on this topic? Are people you know calling for unity? Would they be open to a conversation about consequences?
