For two weeks, we waited to see how our nation would show up for inauguration day. Just 14 days separated a moment vital to democracy and one of the most grotesque manifestations of white supremacy in our history.
The images of violence and bigotry will stay with me forever. People taking selfies beside a noose. Confederate flags paraded through the Capitol. Violent white men praying in the Senate’s chambers, affirming their actions in the name of God.
January 6 was the latest installment in white rage, people gripped by hatred and bigotry, lashing out in the false name of liberty.
That day was traumatic. It was a display of hate we’ve known for far too long.
The Capitol riots weren’t an aberration. This is where our country has been, since its inception, starting with the genocide of Indigenous people and the enslavement of African people; through lynchings and Jim Crow and into the mass incarceration era; to the acts of domestic terror we just witnessed, filmed and broadcast for the whole world to see.
This is our truth. It’s part of who we are as a country.
We turned a page with a new president and reimagined hope — even as we are still in the midst of a collective trauma. We now have to ensure that January 20, 2021, holds its own historical weight. We have to make progress.
There shouldn’t be any doubt that racism and white supremacy have deep roots here. It’s up to us to confront and dismantle the hate.
The change we need demands accountability that repairs harm and changes future actions — of people, institutions, and systems.
We must work to transform our justice system into one that centers race equity as a core value, and builds and strengthens solutions that heal, prevent violence, and create safety.
We witnessed rioters at the Capitol bent on destruction. That destruction cannot deter our progress. We must continue to build power in community. We must continue to create space for those most impacted by race inequity to lay the path toward race equity.
Inaugurations deliver symbols of our aspiration, largely through words. A few offered by the poet Amanda Gordon felt particularly right. Pushing back on the idea of a more perfect union, she said, “We are striving to forge our union with purpose.”
We are steadfast in our purpose: equity for all who have long been denied it.
Thank you for standing with us in pursuit of this.
