Can we all agree that 2020 was quite the year? Controversies across civil human rights and justice reform, politically partisan and society at the most divided throughout the country, and all while going through a global pandemic. We are here, and we’ve made it to 2021. However, we got here; it seems that the craze is not over by saying “new year, new America.” Much has happened in just a few short days after we turned the clock on an extraneous year onto a new one. Following countless claims against the legitimacy of President-elect Biden’s win, there was plenty of stress put on Georgia’s senate run-off race. If Georgia’s seats remained republican, there would be a split Congress as Democrats held the majority in the House of Representatives. However, flipping it would give democrats the majority throughout the congress, thus giving President-elect Biden and his administration greater ease in passing bills he wants. Well, on the morning of January 6th, we did just that. Coincidentally, that same day Georgia flipped the senate to blue, congress met to certify Joe Biden’s win with the official electoral votes. There was a Trump rally that day in D.C., which in a later time, may have conspired into the violent mob who brought violence and vandalism to the Capitol Building. Many rioters documented were wearing clothing that had significance to that day and language referring to antisemitism, racism, and civil war. Many social media sites and accounts are involved in the violent gathering, and tweets by Trump insinuating the event led many officials and public figures to blame him for the siege. Many people, and I, wonder how such a thing could happen to a federal building of such importance. The difference in how law enforcement engaged with the rioters committing federal crimes as opposed to peaceful Black Lives Matter protests is without question. I understand that people have different opinions and political beliefs. What started as protesting, no matter my opinion, was a group of people merely exercising their First Amendment rights. However, things got out of control, and they completely abused their constitutional rights as soon as public safety was put in danger. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and many congressmen/women call on Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment. This would remove Trump from office due to being claimed “unfit” for the position and transfer power to Pence for his presidency’s remaining time. But we never know what can happen in the days to come. What’s my perspective? It’s quite simple. This is not a matter of ongoing support for a political candidate or party. This is a matter of moral and equal justice. It’s clear that there is a divide, but what is even more apparent is when given a public voice to groups who agree with racism, homophobia, or sexism, people will not hesitate to showcase their hatred. We are a democratic republic, but events such as this put our sacred democracy at risk.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Oregon chapter.