The desecration of American democracy

In a week filled with unbelievable images, two stood out in my mind.

I was initially appalled by seeing thousands of pro-President Trump protesters, many carrying American flags, storming the steps of the Capitol after rallying on the Ellipse Wednesday morning and subsequently vandalizing the hallowed halls of Congress.

Their purpose, I assume, was to interrupt the ceremonial certification of Joe Biden as the newly-elected President of the United States, a procedure which happens to be ordained by the Constitution. It was mob rule. Some protesters apparently were armed, as events later turned out, which can only imply more nefarious reasons behind this assault on democracy.

But the first image that struck me was one of the protesters in Statuary Hall carrying a Confederate battle flag.

A desecration of democracy...*

The Civil War occurred in 1861 to 1865, much of it just across the Potomac River in Virginia. The battle flag was originally designed for unit identification, a necessity for keeping the lines intact through the smoke and haze of battle. It was never adopted as a national flag.

The flag was virtually forgotten immediately after the war, but resurfaced with a vengeance in the mid-20th century as a way for the South to rebel against desegration.

And now the flag, which should only exist in museums if for no other reason than the Confederacy lost the war, has been co-opted as a symbol of anti-government rebellion and white nationalism, ironically protected by the government-created First Amendment right to free speech.

The protester in the picture (who eventually will be identified and prosecuted for trespass, incitement, assault and any number of other charges) is walking between portraits of former South Carolina segregationist and senator John C. Calhoun (left) and Massachusetts abolitionist Charles Sumner. There's got to be a story in there somewhere.

I thought it was an incredibly incongruous picture. The Confederate battle flag never made it to the halls of Congress during the Civil War. But it was there on Wednesday. And for what purpose?

...for what purpose?**

The second image was even more upsetting. It was a picture of a noose and gallows on Capitol Hill.

If you are familiar with the darker side of American history, you must know that the noose is primarily a Jim Crow-era abomination – and now a symbol – that should remind you that nearly 5,000 African Americans were hanged over a span of more than 50 years in the last century, afforded no due process and apparently for no other reason than the color of their skin.

Which is why this picture should give us pause. Why is there a noose on Capitol Hill? Just who is the target of this threat? How does this define our democracy?

The pro-Trump rally Wednesday was attended by almost exclusively white people (between 20,000 and 40,000 of them by FBI estimate). Why did they bring race-driven icons?

Thoughtful people watching this travesty unfold are righteously indignant, saying this is not America, this is not who we are.

I want to say that, too. But I will argue that this is exactly who we are, and what we will continue to be until we affect deeper changes in our laws and in our culture.

* Photo by Saul Loeb (Getty Images)

** Photo by Andrew Caballero (Getty Images)