Over a year has passed since the insurrection on the American Capitol occurred. The incident saw thousands of Donald Trump and The Republican Party supporters storm the United States Capitol to seek retribution for the 2020 presidential election, which they believed The Democratic Party stole from them.
The occurrence was as strange as it was alarming. It was also a sign for many that American fascism is continuing to grow.
Political scientists have dissected the topic of far-right nationalism at great length these past four years, and it is not hard to see why. The Donald Trump regime marked a period of far-right and white nationalist talking points reaching a greater platform than ever.
While the Trump presidency is over and many groups like the Proud Boys have lost significant prominence, America’s right-wing only seems to be radicalizing more. Many argue that this was a trend in their politics even before the Trump presidency.
America has a long-standing relationship with white supremacy, but that relationship has not always been consistent. The history of racial domination and the ongoing linkage between class and race in the United States creates an environment where white supremacy is normal.
Activists have argued that this country has not had much social or economic progress. However, a black president coupled with recent social justice movements (many of which call for the liberation of people of color) have caused the American right to feel threatened.
With Donald Trump and the Republican party subscribing to a conservative ideology, these movements towards progress are the exact kind of thing they would want to “conserve” American culture from being “ruined” by these moves. As a side note, the reaction to Obama is important, as the Birther Conspiracy marked the beginning of Trump’s modern political career.
One intriguing development to arise out of the Jan. 6 incident is the discovery of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio being an FBI informant, leading to the previously mentioned decline of the group.
Our current administration is trying to bring the rioters to justice and has done a lot to keep Jan. 6 in the public’s mind. The attack is also a bit of an obsession with New York and DC-based news outlets, who have been covering every second of the January 6th investigation.
The apparent urgency with which the investigations are being held is due to the attacks supposedly betraying our democratic values. The investigation by a House Committee found that over 50 of the attendees of the insurrection are running for public office in 2022.
The fact that this many of the insurrection’s participants are able to do this demonstrates not only the House Committee’s priorities in who they are investigating but our administration’s focus on the lives of working-class Americans as a whole. There simply appears to be more effort to apprehend those involved with the attacks than the multiple public officials who supported and encouraged it.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a drive to fix those long-standing race antagonisms in the country that perpetuate the far-right ideology.
While most view the insurrection as an embarrassment for the nation, the Republican Party is perfectly comfortable with the events that transpired the day of the attacks. Their belief in a stolen election has not changed.
Their further radicalization is evident in their embrace of Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse who even got a speaking slot at the Conservative Political Action Conference. The decline and investigation of groups like the Proud Boys and the Oathkeepers is not a sign of better things to come, as the right as a whole will come to take their place.
With such darkness on the horizon, it is hard to say that the current administration is capable or even willing to stop it. Their policy upholds the same Neoliberal tendencies that have created economic insecurity and public distrust that allows fascism to grow.
