Headlines and History - June 21, 2020

Content Warning

This post is about acts of terror carried out by white people historically and presently.

In the May 6, 2020 NBC article “Michigan Gov. Whitmer Wants to Ban Guns from Capitol After Armed Anti-Lockdown Protests,” Allan Smith reported on the pressure Gov. Whitmer felt to reopen the state. Smith wrote, “‘There are legislators who are wearing bulletproof vests to go to work,’ Whitmer, a Democrat who is in her first term, said Wednesday. ‘No one should be intimidated by someone who's bringing in an assault rifle into their workplace...You shouldn't be intimidated going to be the voice of the people who elected you.’"

In a Twitter thread from May 1, 2020 written by Jared Yates Sexton, he traced the origins of this particular brand of white supremacy to The Turner Diaries by William Pierce. “The author of the Turner Diaries was William Pierce, one of the leading Neo-Nazis in America who wrote the book as a blueprint for a race war and included veiled instructions on how to make weapons and carry out terrorist attacks” (Tweet 28). In tweet 25, he calls this book “the bible of white terrorists.” And in tweet 34, he explained, “In my research and other's research, we keep seeing them mentioning the pandemic and financial crisis as an opening to carry out their fascist overthrow. It's not a coincidence they're rearing their heads right now in shows of intimidation and force. They see an opening.”

I see numerous white Christians grasping for every conspiracy theory related to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, we are not dedicating any time to researching or responding to what white supremacists are doing during this pandemic. The current actions of white supremacists are connected to our nation’s history. Our present is intertwined with and informed by our past. We must understand the history that shapes our headlines to make progress for the future.

#covid19 #michigan #governorwhitmer #politics #endracism #endracismnow #dismantlewhitesupremacy #endwhitesupremacy #evolvingfaith #loveyourneighbor #justice #socialjustice #seekjustice #lament #repent #repair #reparations #facethepast #healthefuture #headlines #history #headlinesandhistory #historyandheadlines #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative