The North dawdled and the moment passed

Following the end of the Civil War, Confederates waited for a punishment that would never come and the failure to hold them accountable emboldened white supremacist ideologues and undermined the democratic reforms of the post-war Reconstruction era.

“The North dawdled and the moment passed”
In my book How We Win the Civil War, I open Chapter One with an excerpt from historian Lerone Bennett Jr.’s Black Power U.S.A: The Human Side of Reconstruction, 1867-1877:

Most Confederate leaders expected imprisonment, confiscation, perhaps even banishment. Expecting the worst, they were willing to give up many things in order to keep some. If there was ever a moment for imposing a lasting solution to the American racial problem, this was it. But the North dawdled and the moment passed. When the Confederates realized that the North was divided and unsure, hope returned. And with hope came a revival of the spirit of rebellion…This was one of the greatest political blunders in American history.

We’re facing a similar moment in our country right now as the current standard bearer for white nationalism and modern-day Confederates—a twice impeached former president who may likely be a front runner for that seat again next year—remains tied up in four separate criminal investigations.

This is bigger than one individual
A majority of the investigations Trump faces are focused on his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Even the New York investigation into his hush money payments to silence Stormy Daniels is less about sensationalizing a relationship with a porn star, and more about his breaking the law to suppress information that would have been relevant to voters at a key point in the democratic process.

Holding Trump accountable for his crimes is bigger than indicting one individual. The ridiculous fear of potential backlash to indicting the leader of this country’s white nationalist base, and letting that fear get in the way of the pursuit of justice, is antithetical to the purpose of a democratic government. More than that, it is incredibly dangerous. If we’re serious about safeguarding American democracy, we must enforce consequences against those who try to subvert it. Period.

In Solidarity and Hope,
Steve and the Democracy in Color Team

Democracy in Color 2023