RISING MAJORITY POSITION ON
FAILED WHITE SUPREMACIST COUP
On January 6th 2021, white supremacists and pro-Trump supporters, emboldended by Trump’s call to “stand back and stand by”, attempted a coup to steal a legal election outcome.
We watched with both horror and perplexity as white supremacists rallied throughout the country. We saw them storm the U.S Capitol Building, and briefly occupy the congressional floor, while being aided by some Capitol Police. We watched as Trump, his administration, and some Republican congress members supported and sent love to this insurrection.
We see the media and elected officials’ rush to label Wednesday’s actions as domestic terrorism, and to undermine our demands to Defund the Police, by using this moment to call for a strengthened police and national security presence. While Wednesday’s actions were indeed political violence, we remember the history of the “terrorist” narrative being weaponized against our communities as they resisted state oppression post-9/11. We see Wednesday’s political violence, violence enabled by the police and military, as grounded in a white supremacist agenda which is inherent to the foundation of this country.
We also note the irony of white supremacists attempting to occupy the United States.
As conservatives seek to distance themselves from Trump and there are increasing calls for reconciliation, we reject the’ notion that we should be pulled to the political center by compromising with white supremacists. We will not forget the harm white supremacy and racial capitalism has done to our people and the planet over the past four years — over the past 400 years.
The entirety of last year and the start of this new year are glaring illustrations of what Black and Brown abolitionists, organizers, and freedom fighters have said for decades — our current system cannot and will not provide stability, health, safety, or justice. In order for our communities to be free we must first abolish and then transform the culture, economy, and democractic process that sanctions violence against marginalized communities and the planet.
The coup failed, but now more than ever, we must reimagine what a radical democracy can and should look like.
IN THE SHORT TERM, WE DEMAND THE FOLLOWING:
- Impeach and Convict Trump immediately
- Expel every member of Congress who collaborated and conspired in Wednesday’s attempted coup. Remove them from their corporate platforms and boards, and ban them from social media.
- Secure our elections by abolishing the electoral college.
- Create a commission to investigate the allegations of cooperation between the organizers of the failed coup, the Capitol Police, and Congress.
- Defund and divest from policing, ICE, and the military, and reallocate those funds to new community governed approaches to safety, sustainability, and accountability.
- All elected officials must publicly renounce white nationalist groups, rhetoric, and insurgency, or be forced to resign.
Despite the attempts of white supremacists to intimidate us back into a society that only benefits a few, we remain steadfast to cultivating radical possibility. We, a broad front of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, grassroots organizations, unions, queer organizations, radical white organizations and more, are winning — from turning Georgia Blue, to protecting ourselves from mass evictions in the midst of COVID.
We are moving forward together, organizing to undo much of the current system while also transforming our society into one where dignity and humanity for all is a reality, and not just words on a page.
We invite you deeper into a community that is adamant about ending white supremacy and racial capitalism, and is fighting to make our collective freedom dreams possible. Our actions will determine what future we are able to create.