Us vs. Them: The People’s Awakening

Human nature has always fascinated me. What makes us tick? What makes us good or evil? Why do we do the things we do? 

Because of these musings, I was struck with a thought compelling me to write this. Two key events in our recent history where the realities of human nature were on display were the Black Lives Matter protests and riots of 2020 and the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Though differing in their goals and outcomes, upon closer analysis these events have far more in common than you might think. 

On May 25, 2020 an altercation between a black man and four Minneapolis police officers led to the death of George Floyd, Jr. after one of the white officers, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyds’ neck for nearly 10 minutes. Protests against police brutality and racial inequity broke out not only in Minneapolis, but across America and eventually around the globe. 

Even with George Floyd’s brother Terrence urging the public to peacefully protest the death of his brother George, his words couldn’t stop the deaths of at least 19 people in the first 14 days of protesting and rioting. Among these deaths was a 77-year-old retired police captain named David Dorn who was attempting to protect a pawn and jewelry shop from looters after Black Lives Matter protests turned into rioting, looting, and vandalism in Saint Louis, MO. Not only were there multiple deaths across the country during months of rioting, but the damages to businesses, buildings, and more are estimated at roughly $1 billion. 

There has long been distrust and divide between the black community and police, along with our government as a whole. Even after the end of slavery, laws enacted by predominately left legislatures continued to marginalize blacks by way of segregation, Jim Crow, and other discriminatory laws. It isn’t any wonder how that distrust was cemented throughout the black community towards the government. 

On January 6, 2021, following the highly contested 2020 Presidential election members of Congress assembled to count and certify the electoral votes. Thousands of Trump supporters gathered that day for a ‘Save America’ rally in Washington, D.C. and protested the fraudulent election results. During his speech, then President Trump told his supporters that he knew “they were going to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard at the Capitol.” During and after his speech, thousands marched to the Capitol where over 2,000 people pushed through barricades and breached the Capitol. Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force Veteran, was shot by Capitol police that day and damages to the capitol building are currently estimated at $1.5 million. 

The Capitol riots didn’t happen solely because of the belief that there was election fraud. After all, the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement was born from people who felt unheard by their government and had been dissatisfied for decades with politicians from both sides taking America down a path they believed was wrong. The Walk Away Campaign started by Brandon Straka was evidence of this showing that there were people of all races, genders, sexual orientations, and classes that felt the same way. 

When I look at both of these events in an objective light I see the root issue as people who feel angered by a government and a ‘system’ that has failed them. When you think about it like that we the people have more in common than we think. It’s the politicians and the media who fan the flames, dividing us by any means necessary. Instead of realizing that it should be us vs. those who would divide us, we’ve given up our control over the years allowing them to divide us ourselves. 

But there is an awakening occurring as we speak amongst people who might otherwise be on opposing sides coming together to fight against government overreach. Parents whose voices of concern are being silenced at school board meetings across our country and the truckers convoy in Canada who simply believe in bodily autonomy. Again, the lines to cause divide have been drawn by the government and the media. With the FBI becoming involved to monitor parents and being given the green light to have them arrested as “domestic terrorists” and the media using buzzwords to portray the trucker convoy as “racist” to hide the true meaning of their protest. Still, they fight on, together.

I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we completely freed ourselves of the media’s influence and began holding these politicians accountable. How different might our country look if we realized the control we already possess if only we chose to fight together?