A Bad Day For Racists
A Good Day for Americans
This is not a red letter day for all of you white supremacists, racists, bigots of every stripe and those who praise the all-knowing and great and all-bad wizard Tucker Carlson who cleaves to the wingnut theory of replacement politics that says that Democrats and other left wingers are flooding the nation with immigrants in order to tip the scales in favor of Democrats and dragging us all down to the sewer of diversity.
Because today, Friday the 13th, an unlucky day for the bad guys, is the day that the federal census reported that, among other things, for the first time since the census was first taken in 1790, the absolute number of people who identify as White alone has shrunk and in another first, the portion of White people dipped below 60 percent, slipping from 63.7 percent in 2010 to 57.8 percent in 2020 and lastly to the utter heartbreak of those who believe the only good America is a white America, that 52.7 percent of the under-18 population are now majority people of color.
This is the single, greatest nightmare of the white right, that of being outnumbered and replaced by non-whites. So look out and be on your guard because the dirty, unshaven rabble of racists will not take this bad new easily.
Look for an explosion of lawn signs and banners on pick up trucks that seem benign but conceal sinister and not so subtle messages that are designed to appeal to other white surpremacists. Many of the signs and slogans were in full view at the Jan. 6 attack on the capitol by pro-trump, white supremacist, anti-Semitic mobs and many can be seen right in our own backyards.
You didn’t have to travel to the Capitol to see Confederate flags alongside trump flags, alongside “thin Blue Line” flags, alongside “Don’t Tread on me” flags. Just take a ride around the area and you’ll see the same kinds of weeds growing in front yards and on homes.
A Confederate flag, ubiquitous at the capitol assault, is proudly hung outside of a Schooley’s Mountain Road home, next to a blue stripes American flag and a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag, the one with the rattlesnake ready to strike. To some, the Confederate flag may seem to fairly benign and symbolic of some romantic vision of the Civil War and the courageous battles between the Rebels and Union forces. But to many the Confederate flag is a brutal reminder of slavery, a punch in the face to African Americans and a rallying cry for racists.
“Don’t Tread on Me” is proclaimed on another popular flag that is seen in the area. Also known as the Gadsden flag, it shows a yellow field and a timber rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike. Beneath the rattlesnake are the words: “Don’t Tread on Me.” The flag was designed during the American Revolution but it has been hijacked as a symbol by white supremacists. The Gadsden flag was featured prominently in a report related to the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. Rosanne Boyland, 34, was carrying one when she collapsed from an accidental drug overdose and died in the Capitol.
The Boogalo Bois (their spelling, not mine), a group of anti-government and white supremacist, anti-Semitic militias, also use the Gadsden flag as a symbol. If you notice a banner or flag with the comic green “Pepe the Frog,” look past its innocent image as it has been used by another white supremacist group, The Proud Boys, which includes members who have been arrested for joining in the attack on the Capitol. And then there are the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia organization composed of current and former military and police who claim to be defending the Constitution of the United States, while encouraging members to disobey orders which they believe would violate the U.S. Constitution.
The Three Percenters, also prominent at the Capitol riot, who take their name from the false belief that only 3 percent of American colonists took up arms against the British. Members see themselves as a modern version of the 3 percent of the colonists.
The American flag with alternating blue and white stripes was created to show support for law enforcement. But it too has been commandeered by the white nationalists who oppose Black Lives Matter.
One of the leading voices spreading panic about “replacement politics” is Fox’s Tucker Carlson who claims that the Democrats are importing a new electorate to dilute, and replace, the existing U.S. white, Anglo Saxon electorate. More likely the continuing influx of immigrants and the growth of non-whites in America has more to do with people seeking jobs or fleeing dangers in their native homelands.
Here are a few highlights of the census report that will surely rattle the cages and cause major heartburn for white supremacists like Carlson and a few of my neighbors and just as surely should be a sign of progressive hope for the diversity that has always marked the country.
* The number of people who identified as non-Hispanic White and no other race dropped by 5.1 million people, to 191.7 million, a decrease of 2.6 percent.
* For the first time, the portion of White people dipped below 60 percent, slipping from 63.7 percent in 2010 to 57.8 percent in 2020. And 52.7 percent of the under-18 population are now majority people of color.
* Hispanics have doubled their population share over the past three decades to 62.1 million people, or 18.7 percent, in 2020. Hispanics are believed to account for half of the nation’s growth since 2010.
* People of Asian heritage made up about 3 percent of the population in 1990. That number has doubled since then, to 6.1 percent, while the African American population has remained stable at 12.1 percent.
* Six states and the District of Columbia are populated by a majority of people of color. Maryland is now 47.2 percent White, and Nevada is 45.9 percent White. the White population fell in three-quarters of counties, and in 35 states.
The “Replacement Theory” is not but it has been getting renewed traction and will no doubt continue to lead more red states as they ratchet up voting restrictions to help blunt the votes by non-Whites and to hasten the replacement of whites by people of color.
And while you keep an eye out for frogs, blue flags and rattlesnakes, beware of individuals who have been major donors to trump’s reelection campaign, like Steven Alembik, a major supporter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who once called President Obama the n-word and a Muslim; or so-called political commentators, like James Allsup, a member of the American Identity Movement, a white nationalist and neo-Nazi organization; Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim, far right commentator who promoted the birther conspiracy theory about Obama; Laura Loomer, another anti-Muslim political activist who was the GOP’s 2020 nominee for Florida’s 21st congressional district in the congress, who fortunately lost to Democrat Lois Frankel; and K.C. McAlpin, a speaker with ties to the Social Contract Press, a white nationalist publishing group.
Be on your guard.