We Have Coups at Home

As US citizens looked on in horror at the events of January 6th, I sat from my home in Jamaica alternating between distress and hilarity. The situation before me was absurd on so many levels, but the sense of irony that permeated the moment couldn’t be shaken. Decades of “covert operations” and dubious foreign policy all came to a head in an attack that many people saw coming. 

White America has a history of aiding and abetting insurrection and the actions that day in the Capitol building were a reflection of that. Coronavirus, travel restrictions, and stay at home orders have forced many to be focused on local action and it seems white supremacists are no different in that regard. As thousands of Trump supporting terrorists stormed the building leaving in their wake explosive materials and carrying in their midst dozens of rich and well connected white men an air of despair and disgust fell over the US. 

The weeks following these horrific events have been filled with politicians, news anchors, and journalists everywhere rushing to reassure the US that this “isn’t who we are as a country.” But that can’t possibly be the truth, this is the same country that has admitted to providing military and financial assets to at least 10 coups in Latin America alone. That number isn’t counting invasions or cases of only “suspected” US involvement. Hell, the US backed a coup just last September! 

Undermining democracy is just as much a part of the US’ international legacy as baseball and slavery. 

The attempts of those who empowered, emboldened, and condoned white supremacy under this administration through complicit complacency or active encouragement to wash their hands of guilt sickens me. That extends to more than just career politicians and into the “liberal media '' that failed to call out and disavow Trump’s wildest claims. 

Big media organisations that have spent hours agonising over the Trump administration's most vile and ridiculous actions, giving him the foot in the door he needed to escalate. Their failure to actively call out the borderline (and sometimes actually) illegal actions of the former president and his cronies paved the way for those rioters in a way no sympathetic Capitol police person could have. 

The career politicians who stood idly by watching the US’ political landscape erode before their eyes ought to hang their heads in shame. This might just be the most bipartisan act that took place in these last 4 years. Men and women on both sides of the aisle remained mild in their condemnations, weak in their convictions, and feeble in their actions. 

The false calls for unity with radical right wing fascists sicken me. All the Republicans who failed to do what was right, are quick to claim the country can go forward without accountability. Impeachment is the bare minimum, charges are the bare minimum, increased security measures are the bare minimum. 

Unity? 

Unity is a distant dream they should have thought about before they endorsed the vile racist, misogynistic, ableist (and the list goes on) man child. Unity is what they should have thought about last summer as they brazenly condemned protests for black lives. The Republican party has never been concerned with unity, what they are concerned with is their bottom line. They are concerned with their next election and satisfying their now radicalised base, because what truly matters is power. 

All these important political actors have all played a major role in allowing radical white supremacist rhetoric to fester in the American middle class.  The blood and rubble is on their hands and their disservice to the American people is duly noted. 

Finally, all the assertions that there is a way to “bring America back” without questioning what it is to be from the US and how and who got us here sickens me. What is the America you want to bring back? Yet again, the US’s elite are peddling lies, misinformation, and easy ways out of complex and confounding situations. One thing I have noted in coming to the US and attempting to understand US media cycles and politics is that coddling is an all too common practice. There is no comfort in uprooting white supremacy, there never will be. Hard work is never easy and changing a nation isn’t either. 

US history is bleak but this is a time to look forward. To dream bigger and realize a United States that is at least more united in the pursuits of justice, peace, and radical change for the better. 

Whether it comes from your local news anchor or the incoming President, we need to reject a narrative that makes these terrorists and their accomplices (active or passive) comfortable. That is what got us into this mess in the first place. When we prioritize the voices and comfort of more white, rich, well connected men (and women) we empower them to seek out that comfort at the expense of even democracy. 

The failed coup of January 6th remains one of the most hilarious and harrowing things I have lived in my very short life. With a solid 40 years (at least) ahead of me I dread to think what future the US will build for itself. Whether it will be one darkened by years of further white supremacist action or enlightened by the liberation of the many oppressed peoples who reside here is as yet unclear to me. As I prepare for my next 3 years and a half in this peculiar nation I continue to ponder  what it means to bring home your foreign policy with you. Furthermore, I question what it means to exist here in a time of great political and socio economic disarray. 

I have many hopes for the future of the US, and while most involve preserving my personal safety and sanity, others are hopes for a nation that can fully accept all the people it holds within its expansive borders. I hope that this rattled and divided country can unify in the years to come, after the dust has settled and the charges have been filed, after accountability and unlearning. I hope that one day the US and its foreign relations wont strike fear in my heart or anyone else’s. Finally, I hope for a future that is filled with opportunity and joy for everyone. 

---

Hayley Headley is an emerging writer and journalist who works hard to create work that is fiercely feminist, anti racist and anti oppression on a whole. You can check out more of her work and content on her instagram @hayley.headley