The Reed Report
White Privilege Stormed the Castle, Er, Capitol
If the flimsy myths propping up Trumpism were pillars, the one that fell the hardest in today’s riot at the U.S. Capitol was that of the “law and order” presidency. In defiance of both logic and the president’s rhetoric, thousands of his supporters ran lawless and unchecked into the Rotunda, congressional offices, and both chambers, causing damage, physically attacking both D.C. and federal officers, and interrupting the peaceful transfer of power. A woman was shot and killed.
It was as close as the country has come to violent insurrection since the Civil War and was met with a shrug from a president who spent most of this last sad term praising cops and defending their use of violence against civilians.
It wasn’t just that Trump lost—it was that despite his best efforts, in the end he couldn’t effectively weaponize his privilege against the protestors, immigrants, and Black women political organizers he’d promised to keep America safe from.
But Trumpism’s real organizing principles — racism, codification of White privilege, and defense of the former through White mob violence — were still standing after…
