We are at a serious crossroads.
An American fascism, rooted in the Confederacy and wrapped in the flag and Mike Pence’s Bible taken literally, is spreading its poison of white supremacy, misogyny, xenophobia, and oppressive, fundamentalist “traditional” values. Trump not only speaks the language of fascism – he acts on it, calling up the police, military and his MAGA street thugs to carry out brutality and revenge.
Trump has thrown down a heavy gauntlet to the people. He has invoked the Second Amendment to call out his armed vigilante militias and threatened to send the U.S. military to impose a fascist “law and order.” And in a massive insult to Black people, Trump’s announced he would re-start his KKK-style campaign rallies on Juneteenth – the day to celebrate emancipation from slavery – in Tulsa, Oklahoma – the scene of the largest mass killing of Black people in U.S. history. His clear message: Black people who dare to step out of “their place” will be met with an onslaught of MAGA white supremacy. Should the Trump/Pence regime succeed in crushing this righteous uprising of the people, they will seek to exact revenge and terror aimed at destroying our ability to stand up again.
We cannot allow this. Every move the regime makes to kill this uprising must be met with an even greater mass outpouring, in which the resolve of the protesters against police murder is strengthened with a growing defiant chorus across the country: Trump/Pence Out Now!
An uprising has begun.
Day after day, night after night, coast to coast, the streets fill with people of all backgrounds fiercely rejecting white supremacy and a culture of soul-crushing cruelty. Millions have been shaken awake.
This determined struggle has created a serious political crisis that the Trump/Pence regime cannot easily roll over. For the first time in over three years, the people have seized the initiative and refused to let go. Despite tear gas, rubber bullets, and lethal violence, protesters have refused to back down, and the whole world has seen that those in power are not all-powerful. All of society is compelled to choose a side, even causing wide splits among the rulers. This is how regimes around the world have been forced out of power.
This is a moment to seize.
The fight for justice now must include a growing network of people and organizations from many different backgrounds and political perspectives calling for the immediate removal of the Trump/Pence regime. This cannot be put on hold until November, when talk of election cancellation or Trump’s refusal to leave office is a common point of conversation. Let us not hope against facts that the 2020 election—the same election that Trump was on trial for sabotaging—is enough to resolve the crisis of an entire fascist movement determined to impose their nightmare on society. While the regime has been forced to make minor concessions in response to this historic upsurge, they have also become more desperate to bludgeon ahead and lash out. We are the only force that can stop this, millions of people staying in the streets and refusing to go home until our demand – Trump/Pence Out Now! – is met.
We have begun, but should we fail to see this through, this and every struggle for justice will be set back. But if we succeed – and we can succeed – every struggle for justice will be strengthened and a whole fascist movement, from the streets to the halls of power, will be driven back. The whole world will take heart. Let us change the course of history, not for ourselves alone but for all humanity.