Politics
Actually, This IS America
Testimony from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot shows us exactly who we are
When multi-hyphenate performer Childish Gambino released his visual for “This Is America” in 2018, it sent shockwaves through the Twitterverse and beyond. Everyone was talking about its violence, its darkness, and its irrevocable honesty. The same can be said about the testimony of the four officers at the first hearing of the Select Committee for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Officer Harry Dunn, Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, Officer Michael Fanone, and Officer Daniel Hodges all gave harrowing accounts of what transpired for them and their fellow officers on that fateful day — the day our government was almost overthrown while the Confederate flag breached the Capitol Building — a sight unfathomable during the Civil War, let alone now.
Their accounts of the violence, the taunting, and the verbal and physical abuse they experienced on Jan. 6 were like watching Childish Gambino’s video come to life right before our eyes.
“I have never been called a nigger to my face while wearing this uniform,” said Dunn, who is Black. He said it with a tone that was meshed with both grief and disbelief — the cocktail du jour experienced by most Black people in America. Dunn’s accounting of the racial epitaphs being hurled at him —…
