“IS THIS OUR KRISTALLNACHT MOMENT?
I hate to intrude on Black History Month with stuff about the Trumpster moves, but the events of the past week make me wonder if this is our Kristallnacht moment. I do not want to minimize the deep suffering of Jewish people in Germany during the Kristallnacht by comparing it to our time, but it seems to me that we may have crossed a line this past week with Trump’s seeking to move into the kind of intimidation and fear that Hitler and his goons promoted with the thuggery of Kristallnacht.
First, a short synopsis of Kristallnacht – if you are unfamiliar with it, please look it up on your own. On the night of November 9–10, 1938, Nazi German leaders unleashed a nationwide anti-Jewish riot. The violence was supposed to look like an unplanned outburst of popular anger against Jews. In reality, this was state sponsored vandalism, arson, and terror. This event came to be called Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass). Part of the terror of those days was the beginning of the deportation of Jewish men. Sounding familiar yet? Kristallnacht marked the beginning of the solidification of the Nazi’s persecution of its enemies and any who dissented.
I don’t know if this is our American Kristallnacht or not, but it sure feels like it after the events of last week, from the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, to official lying about those killings, to the seizing of the voting records of the 2020 election from Fulton County here in Georgia, to the arrests of Black journalists, to the nomination of a Trumpster to chair the Federal Reserve, to the terror of the ICE thugs – Trump seems to be making his move to establish himself as the Supreme Leader who cannot and will not be denied. Let me hasten to add here that Black and Brown and Native peoples in America have already experienced Kristallnacht many times over – the events of last week are designed to terrorize white people now.
It is as if Trump is trying to seize the moment for dictatorship and make it his. Killing protestors, invalidating elections, arresting journalists, deporting “aliens”- all these point to what Trump hopes that we will take as truth: he is in control and will not be denied. Resisters are rising up in the streets, and even some Republican politicians are trying to draw a line. We give thanks that the people of Minnesota are showing us the way in their resistance to the Trump regime. Perhaps the Supreme Court will deny Trump’s attempt at this coup, but so far they have given no indication of such backbone. It is a scary moment for us all, as Trump moves to deny or invalidate the storm that is coming in the 2026 elections.
Only time will tell if Trump’s Kristallnacht will prove to be a turning point which consolidates his power, or if this will be a Gettysburg moment, when Trump’s power begins to ebb. I would love to hope that Trump’s Kristallnacht will instead prove to be a turning point when his power began to wane, but so far I don’t see many signs of that. There are hopeful signs, sort of like eagle or crow calls in the distance – resisters everywhere, Democrats finding both vision and backbone, growing discontent with Trump and his thuggish methods across the land. One thing that gives me pause is that no Republican state leader in Georgia has yet spoken up against Trump’s seizure of the Fulton County ballots. Democrats are speaking out strongly, but the Republicans have been strangely quiet. In 2020, they stood up to Trump, but now in 2026, they are acquiescing.
So, whatever you think about Trump, please recognize that these next few weeks and months will prove crucial to our democracy – Kristallnacht or Gettysburg? Which way it goes will largely be up to us. Trump is making a blatant attempt to steal democracy from us – what will be our response?
