That the bastion of constitutional rights, the veritable citadel of democracy, is attacked by a mob of angry Americans, claiming to be patriots on Jan. 6, 2021 remains, particularly for Black Americans, a sad and tragic reminder of the distance yet to travel to the promised land.
If no more than to experience our democracy in action and revel in the words of Rep. Bennie Thompson and Pete Aguilar, Black and Latino Americans should give more than an occasional brush with the upcoming hearings.
Like the Trump impeachment trials, which are sure to be mentioned in these proceedings, the hearings should prove to be another civic lesson, among those many of which were missed during our school days. So often, if you pay close attention, these moments can provide a mother-lode of information that will not only help explain what’s at stake from the hearings but putting that horrific uprising in context of American history.
Many other similar incidents, even riots and rebellions, will be voiced and brought into play as the committee members interrogate the marauders, particularly those who have been subpoenaed for their role in the confrontation with officers trying to deflect and stop the invasion.
It should be several days of the rewarding commentary, riveting exchanges to suggest again that past is prologue, and no moment more demonstrative of the nation’s divide than the agony of the Civil War.
There is much to make of the insurrection and we are convinced that we have the interrogators to distill and cull from the testimonies critical lessons in the democratic process, one that is still in process, and possibly in progress through these hearings.