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RACISM + POLITICS
2021 Exposed The Dangers of White Backlash America Pretends Not to See
Did America finally learn its lesson? Let’s unpack this
Even though 2021 was supposed to be the year that saved us all from the 2020 blues, it became something else — the year of white backlash. While the antics of White Trumpers failed to destroy American democracy, they were only a stone’s throw away.
If you are unfamiliar with white backlash, let’s start with the Lost Cause. In the aftermath of the “Confederacy’s humiliating defeat in the treasonous war for slavery,” many “supporters pushed the idea that Robert E. Lee was a brilliant general, gentleman, and patriot; and the Ku Klux Klan had rescued the heritage of the old South, what came to be known as “the southern way of life.”
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The White men and women who stormed the capital on January 6th, becoming insurrectionists, highjacked the terminology of patriotism to justify exerting violence in the citadel of democracy. Even after their humiliating defeat, brought on by a historical surge of Black voters, many conservatives denied that he lost at all.
Many Trump supporters will eagerly try to convince you that Donald Trump’s presidency wasn’t about racism or White…
