“WOW - WHAT A WEEK!”

Last week I compared the Trumpdemic rage to that of King Herod’s rage in sending the soldiers to kill the baby boys of Bethlehem.  Though I feared the crowds that were gathering for the Day of Epiphany (and the certification of Biden/Harris), I did not imagine that they would storm the Capitol as they did.  Given the militaristic response to the Black Lives Matter protests this past summer, I also assumed that there would be a comparable force stationed for the Trumpdemic crowds that gathered on January 6.  When I saw the lack of security around the Capitol as the afternoon began, I thought to myself, “Boy, if they try something, there is not enough security to hold them back.”  And there wasn’t.

Given my roots in Southern white supremacy, my first thoughts as I watched the crowds storm the Capitol was that it was similar to the fury of a lynch mob.  Trump had stoked them up, just as previous demagogues had done with white crowds about Black people in their communities.  The result was the same – chaos, destruction, and death.  I was grateful the Congress was determined to reconvene and do the original business:  to certify that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be the new president and vice-president.  Now, we have to find a way to get through the last 9 days of the Trump presidency and the days of rage.  As I shared with some friends, I hope that the worst thing that Trump does in these last 9 days is to pardon himself.  

Surviving the Trump presidency will not end the Trumpdemic, however.  It will not end it because it is rooted in the systemic white supremacy and racism that have been with us since the European beginnings of the country.  The election of Barack Obama, the changing demographics of the nation, more diverse people turning out to vote – all of these are great signs of the potential for justice and equity.  Yet, they also strike at the heart of white supremacy, as noted by all the Confederate flags that the Trump crowd carried in their attack on the Capitol.  For them, Trump’s voice is one which affirms white supremacy and which calls us back to the time when no one disputed white, male rule.  Diminishing Trump’s voice does end the Trumpdemic  because this pandemic is deeply rooted in us.

Yet, it was a “wow” week also because Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won the runoffs for the Senate seats in Georgia, a big surprise to many of us.  I had predicted that Warnock and Perdue would win, so I was so delighted to be wrong on that prediction.  And, Warnock and Ossoff won by even greater margins than Biden did in Georgia.  On January 20, the Senate will move into Democratic control, though I know that Mitch McConnell is skilled enough and ruthless enough to seek to tie  things in knots until the 2022 elections.  Still, it is a powerful victory, and we give thanks to all the people who worked and organized and voted to make this possible, most especially Black women like Stacey Abrams and so many others.  It is this kind of organization and dedication that scared the Trumpdemic gathered in Washington on Wednesday.  It also is the skillful power that has frightened Georgia legislators, whose session opens today.  Many bills are forthcoming to limit voting in Georgia, and the violence at the US Capitol and the legislative energy to limit voting are a reminder of the deadly combination of these powers that stripped Black people of many rights, including voting rights, after Reconstruction.  

This week reminded us of the dynamics at work in American culture, with the powerful idea of equality always wrestling with the demonic powers of race and gender and class.  Even in the wrestling, the idea of equality continues to call out to so many people.  My good friend John Vodicka sent me a Tweet from Stacey Abrams from January 6, originally posted by The Bitter Southerner.  It reminds us of America at its best potential:  

“While today’s terrible display of terror and meanness shakes us, let us remember:  Jon Ossoff, Jewish son of an immigrant, & Reverend Warnock, first Black Senator from Georgia, will join a Catholic POTUS & the first woman, Black and Indian, VP in our nation’s capital.  God Bless America.”  

Hard and difficult days ahead, but right now the democracy is holding and even shining (sort of) brightly.  The forces of white, male supremacy are never far away – that lion never sleeps tonight – but this past fall and this week tell us that it may be possible to bend that stubborn arc of history towards justice.  May we find our places in that parade of witnesses who have taken hold of that arc of justice.