July 21, 2021
Page 9
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O PINION
The Insurrection and the Lost Cause
b en J ealous
A violent in-
surrection
en-
gulfed the U.S.
Capitol just six
months ago.
One
United
States
Capitol
Police
Officer
Brian Sicknick died and other
Capitol police are still healing.
Investigators are still going
through video and social me-
dia documenting the attempt to
disrupt congressional affirma-
tion of President Joe Biden’s
victory. Just six months ago.
But many Republican leaders
are already trying to rewrite the
history of that day and what led
up to it.
Some are downplaying the
seriousness of the attack on
Congress. They portray the in-
vasion as a tourist outing. Some
far-right activists are trying
to shift blame away from the
Trump supporters who were
clearly responsible for inciting
and carrying out the attack.
The people spreading lies
about the Capitol insurrection
are the spiritual heirs to the
Daughters of the Confederacy.
They are the ideological de-
scendants of those who spent
decades lying to the American
by
public about slavery and the
Civil War.
Promoters of pro-Confed-
eracy propaganda known as
“Lost Cause” ideology had a
purpose. They wanted people
to view the defense of slavery
and the “southern way of life”
as a noble cause. They wanted
to create justifications for the
brutally enforced segregation
and subjugation of Black peo-
ple during the Jim Crow era.
They created and promoted in
textbooks and media a false
version of history. And they
used that false version of histo-
ry to keep a grip on power that
they did not deserve to hold.
Republicans who deny or
downplay the insurrectionists’
attempt to overturn the pres-
idential election are creating
their own Lost Cause ideolo-
gy. They are trying to portray
Stop the Steal activists and in-
surrectionists as patriots pursu-
ing a noble cause—the defense
of “election integrity” and the
“purity of the ballot box.”
What we have here is layer
upon layer of lies.
Trump’s claim that his vic-
tory was stolen by Black and
brown voters in corrupt cities
was the lie that fueled insurrec-
tionists’ rage. It was repeated
endlessly on right-wing media.
It is still repeated by Trump
and his supporters to portray
President Joe Biden and Vice
President Kamala Harris as il-
legitimate.
The stolen-election lie is
being used to justify new vot-
er suppression laws aimed at
preventing future Democratic
wins. It is a lie that Trump-
ists will use to mobilize white
right-wing voters in 2022 and
2024.
Lies about the Jan. 6 insur-
rection began while it was still
under way. Right-wing figures
claimed without evidence that
the attack was not led by Trump
supporters but by unnamed
leftists. Some claim that it was
all planned by Trump’s “deep
state” enemies in the FBI.
And now we have an add-
ed layer: the frantic campaign
against “critical race theory.”
The manufactured panic about
critical race theory demon-
strates why right-wing funders
spent billions of dollars over
the past few decades building
an infrastructure of political
and media networks. Think
tanks, media outlets, political
organizations, religious-right
groups, AstroTurf operations,
and Republican politicians
Recycling propaganda
to gain power
have all swung into action,
sounding alarms about the sup-
posedly dire threat of students,
soldiers, and employees learn-
ing to think critically about the
racism in our country’s past
and our institutions.
They are recycling the red
scare propaganda used against
Martin Luther King Jr. and oth-
er civil rights activists, warn-
ing of Marxist infiltration and
indoctrination in schools, busi-
nesses, government agencies,
and even the military. Conser-
vatives who until the past few
months proclaimed themselves
champions of free speech and
academic freedom have turned
on a dime and are supporting
laws banning teaching or dis-
cussing racism in the class-
room.
The campaign against crit-
ical race theory is designed to
scare white parents and oth-
er Americans into fearing the
growing presence of Black and
brown people in positions of
influence and power. It is de-
signed to inflame fears and pro-
voke fearful people into action
to “protect” themselves and
their loved ones. It is designed
to bury our understanding of
history in an effort to control
the future. Its perpetrators are
playing with fire.
We cannot successfully face
our future by lying about our
past, ignoring the realities of
the present, or outlawing the
truth. Our path forward must
be as a multiracial, multiethnic,
religiously diverse democrat-
ic society united by a shared
commitment to the principles
of equality, fairness, opportu-
nity, and justice for all.
Ben Jealous serves as presi-
dent of People For the Ameri-
can Way. He formerly served as
president and chief executive
officer of the NAACP.
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