America, We Need to Talk About Fascism
The Warnings Were Ignored, Year After Year. Now American Fascism May Be Here to Stay.
You might have heard that, this morning, Trump referred to “an American SS.” That was his way of saying, “Secret Service.” It wasn’t an accident, or a gaff, it was a very clear signal to his supporters and his allies. Trump is telling you exactly who is he and what he wants. He has been for five years now. An American SS — a week after soldiers in the streets of Washington DC, chemicals used to gas protestors in front of the White House, and a New York Times op-ed that called for the military to shoot civilians. What the?
Fascism is here in America. “It” happened here.
And now that it’s unmistakable, finally, finally, finally, white pundits are starting to call this fascism, shocked and appalled, as if minorities haven’t been saying this for years. As if we haven’t been screaming it from the rooftops since the before Trump was elected. As if on this platform, right here, I haven’t been writing about it for more than five years.
Now white guys love to criticize and tone police me — “you can’t say I told you so!” And accusing me of doing “victory laps” as America burns.
I have two things to say to this. One — it is in fact my right to promote myself. In fact it’s sadly a necessity. if I don’t look out for me, a brown dude, who will? Certainly not the white media that has gone out of its way my whole life to ignore me.
The minorities who tried to warn you about this are now in a double bind. Wait for the patriarchal, white media to recognise you, which it never will. Or be criticised for taking “victory laps” when you stand up for yourself.
Two, if we don’t learn from the past, we repeat it. Me saying “I told you this years ago” should be a lesson to you on fascism and racism. When I said “fascism,” (white) people told me I was overreacting, that it would never happen. Concentration camps at the border weren’t fascism! They were full of brown children. ICE raids and paper-checking in the streets wasn’t fascism!
But now, all of a sudden, white people have realised that fascism has come for them. They can be tear gassed in the streets just like…
