2020 Election Aftermath

In an historic election with a record high turnout and nearly 160 million votes cast, Americans rejected four more years of Donald Trump’s xenophobia, grievance, thuggishness, and sustained attacks on democracy. The Biden-Harris win meant that most Americans had opted for empathy, truth, and decency over hate, lies, and dysfunction!

Who Voted for Trump and Why?

Trump’s support continued to come from White working class non-college-educated rural voters adversely affected by the loss of manufacturing jobs. This pool declined nationally from 45 to 41 percent. As in the past, it skewed male and poor. 

A Toronto-based writer told me he hoped Trump supporters would “crawl back under their rock with their god and their guns!” What rock? “Their pro militia, high school fail, immigrant-hating, trailer park rock, that rock!” Let me add opioid-addicted, anti-intellectual, science-denying to that list!

He continued, “Trump supporters must own every thing he did.” By that token, more than 70 million of our fellow citizens voted to keep Central American kids (including babies) in cages! At last count, the parents of 545 children cannot be found; their records are unavailable, tragically lost! (See BBC story below).

Evangelical Support

About 80 percent of White Evangelical and “Born Again” Christians (see below NPR article on the faith vote) supported Trump. Catholic support was 49 percent.

Evangelicals have long been single issue voters. They are “pro-life” and, for them, it’s all about abolishing “choice” or abortion. They have waited nearly 50 years to overturn 1973’s Roe v. Wade, the ruling that made abortion legal. For the same reason, many immigrant Catholic communities also vote GOP: Filipino, Indian, Latinx (see below for explanation).

A second contentious issue is same sex marriage and gay (LGBTQ) rights. Evangelicals are hopeful that, the appointment by Trump of conservative justices to the Supreme Court, will not only overturn Roe v. Wade but also 2015’s marriage equality judgements that allow same sex marriage.

Jews for Trump

Although more Jews voted for Biden, Trump raised his share of the Jewish vote to about 25 percent. The reason is the U.S. Embassy being moved to Jerusalem and support for Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu’s controversial expansion of illegal West Bank settlements. Often occupied by ultra right wing American Jews (regarded with suspicion by more secular Israelis), these settlements are located deep in Palestinian territory.

Trump fueled the dangerous illusion that Israel could ignore the conflict with the Palestinians, maybe even formally annex the West Bank! “Now Netanyahu’s Israel has to sober up from the intoxication of power that marked four years of Trump’s rule,” says a Haaretz editorial (linked below).  

Black Voters

About 10 percent of Black voters both nationally and in key swing states with large Black electorates supported Trump. That is similar to 2016 and reflects broader partisan dynamics. 

Although Black women effectively propelled the Biden-Harris ticket to victory, about one in 10 Black college-educated men have traditionally identified as Republican. Their rationale is history: Abraham Lincoln (who freed the slaves) was Republican, hence their loyalty to the party.  

Young Black male voters don’t feel as negatively about Trump as older ones. In some battleground states, 18 to 29 year olds said they liked his strong demeanor and defiance of the establishment!  

In recent weeks, prominent Black celebrities like actor Ice-T and rappers 50 Cent and Lil Wayne endorsed Trump. Harsh public backlash caused some to walk back that support.

Diverse Hispanic Vote

Even though 70 percent of the almost 15 million Latinx community voted for Biden, Democrats failed to attract enough of them in key swing states where Trump grew his support. 

In southern Florida’s Miami-Dade county, the Hispanic community was swayed by GOP fiction that Biden was soft on socialism and would defund the police. Cubans, Venezuelans, Colombians, even Puerto Ricans overwhelmingly voted GOP! Some were from nations scarred by socialist dictators (the Castros in Cuba, Chavez and Maduro in Venezuela). 

Colombians — who tend to be well off and better educated than other Hispanic groups, and usually pro-Democratic — were influenced this year by former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, a dominant force of the Colombian right and a guru to the Miami community. Uribe warned against “Castro Chavismo,” a watchword for the rise of Latin American socialist governments.

Puerto Ricans voting GOP may be the most astonishing thing of all! It was Trump who delayed providing relief during 2017’s Hurricane Maria, apparently not caring that Puerto Rico was a U.S. Territory, while celebrities Lin Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, chef Jose Andres (an outspoken Trump critic), and others, organized fundraisers and airlifted urgent food supplies to that hard hit island — short memories, those ‘Ricans!  

Another odd phenomenon is the Miami Cuban community which still expects to reclaim land and wealth left behind when they fled Cuba six-plus decades ago! The GOP feeds their fantasies and the community pays lobbyists millions to ensure that U.S.-Cuba relations remain paralyzed and the embargo kept in place. I visited Cuba in 2013 and have met often enough with Miami Cubans to know that the two sides may never reconcile! White Miami Cubans represent a minority group of rich landowners who oppressed majority Black Cubans during the Batista regime, that was overthrown by Fidel Castro-Che Guevara in the 1959 Revolution. Needless to say, they’re fanatically Republican!

The GOP opted for a grassroots “ground and pound” game in Miami-Dade, walking to homes, knocking on doors, and falsely warning of a socialist Biden-Harris ticket in radio ads. (See below Washington Post story.)  Conscious of Covid, the Dems used phone and digital outreach, avoiding face to face contact and, although they overspent the GOP, their message did not resonate.

It was similar in south Texas where Latinx (mainly Mexican) communities in El Paso and other border areas along the Rio Grande supported Trump despite his cruel policy of child separation, the fraught border wall issue, and calling Mexicans   “rapists” and “bad hombres!” Trump’s disrespect and insults did not hurt him; the community liked his “machismo!” Go figure! In exit interviews Latinx voters said the Dems took them for granted, did not woo them or spend time with them the way the GOP did, and that their message was not uplifting enough!

It is a diverse community that seems to be easily flattered by attention and may not always be aware of — or vote — its own self interest!

It’s Aspirational!

A desperate need among people of color to identify with the majority has long been a factor with minorities. The same is true for all immigrant communities. They want to identify with the majority, not with other poor or recently poor immigrants. It’s aspirational! 

On an Uber trip last week, my driver (a Muslim from Morocco) proudly told me that he’d voted for Trump. I guess he was unaware of the Muslim ban or that current immigration policy is to stop people like him from coming to this country!

Traditionally, the Democrats were the party of immigrants, poor people, and labor. But, as soon as immigrants acquired wealth, many decided they didn't want to be part of a group that struggled to make ends meet. They voted their pocketbooks to avoid high taxes and switched their allegiance to the GOP, traditionally considered the party that lowers taxes. 

This was evident with rich Indian doctors and businessmen who contributed to GOP presidential campaigns dating back to the 90s and were proud to be among the topmost donors to Bush, Dole, Romney, and McCain. Note that 16 to 18 percent of Indians supported Trump in 2020, according to press reports, although that number may be revised.

Uncertainty Continues!

About 80 percent of Americans, including over half of Republicans, recognize Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, says a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Despite that,Trump still refuses to accept election results, casting doubt on their validity, and spreading conspiracy theories about voter fraud. 

This unwillingness to concede makes for an embarrassing spectacle with the rest of the world looking on! The standoff could have serious security and foreign policy implications. The impact on democratic norms is unprecedented and negative and perpetuates the lie that the election was not legit! 

Is it “a tale... full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (apologies to Shakespeare) or is there something more devious at stake? Washington is agog with rumors: what do the sudden personnel changes at the Pentagon mean? Will Trump ever concede? Will he run again in 2024 or just pretend to, to remain in the news?  Could he stage some sort of coup? Highly unlikely, say sources! Stay tuned!

Ludi Joseph

November 11,2020

Washington, D.C.

 

                 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54636223

2020 Faith Vote Reflects 2016 Patterns

Latinx, a gender-neutral term replacing Latino and Latina, refers to people of Latin American descent.

Now that Trump's out, it's time for Netanyahu's Israel to sober up | Opinion

Miami-Dade Hispanics helped sink Biden in Florida

  

 TJ: Meritocracy to Mediocrity? 

When my friend Ram left India to come to the U.S., little did he imagine that he might — in the next 20-odd years — be confronted with affirmative action and racial quotas at “TJ,” the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, that his kids went to! 

As a Brahmin in Tamilnadu, it wasn’t easy for Ram to get into an Indian engineering college because admission was not merit-based and most seats were reserved for disadvantaged castes.Was history repeating itself? Was the Fairfax County Public Schools system in Virginia experiencing a kind of backward slide from meritocracy to mediocrity?

Elite Magnet School

TJ is not any run of the mill high school. It was designed to be an elite magnet school to educate gifted students and help attract high-tech business to the area. Companies such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman donated millions of dollars of equipment for kids to study nanochemistry and quantum physics in state-of-the-art labs! Scientists from the National Institute of Health and the Smithsonian have mentored TJ seniors! The school has a planetarium and a supercomputer, and — best of all — tuition is zero, zilch, free! 

Parents have moved from other cities — even other countries, not kidding! — to ensure their children are eligible. They buy homes in middle school districts that serve as pipelines to TJ, enroll their (nerdy, whip smart, overachieving) kids in after-school programs and pay thousands of dollars for prep courses!

Super Competitive!

Ram’s older girl passed out of TJ last year (the Class of 2019); the younger one is currently a TJ sophomore. 

As early as middle school (sixth through eighth grades), both kids went to hundreds of hours of classes and other specialized tutoring at academies that were specifically designed to prepare for TJ’s “race blind” admissions test, reportedly one of the toughest in the country — and not just for math and science but also for English essay writing and composition. (I know! I got roped in to help!)

While many of their friends were going to sleepovers and birthday parties and enjoying extracurriculars, these two were waking up at the crack of dawn on weekends to study! Thankfully, they both passed, but many of their friends and peers did not; yeah, it’s super tough and super competitive and requires one thousand percent focus! 

Dumbing Down? 

Now, however — in an effort to attract more diversity in its student body — the school has eliminated the admissions test altogether as well as teacher recommendations. Many parents and students are aghast, calling this a deliberate dumbing down to include minorities! 

Serious consideration was also given to a lottery system that would select qualified students, at random. That rather controversial idea was dropped!

Background

The mission of TJ is to serve as a school for children who are passionate about STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math). 

According to the U.S. News and World Report, it was ranked the nation’s top high school in the list of 2020 Best High Schools. From over 3,000 students who apply each year, only about 450 are admitted (about 15 percent). The admissions test is similar in structure to the SAT. Since the school’s founding in 1985, it is composed of a two-part math, reading, science, and writing test. 

During the entire 2019-2020 school year, TJ’s profile showed the following demographic breakdown: 71.5 percent Asian, 19.48 percent White, 2.6 percent Hispanic, 1.72 percent Black, and 4.7 percent other. 

Note: Asian usually means students from China and India, although a few other Asian countries are also represented.

It’s Complicated!

One way of making the school demographically representative is to apply a system of straightforward unapologetic affirmative action: that is, reserve 9 percent of slots for Black applicants, 17 percent for Asians, 62 percent for Whites, and 16 percent for Hispanics — these numbers are taken from Fairfax County’s demographic breakdown.

Such a move would, of course; overwhelmingly benefit White students and hurt Asians. (Black and Hispanic students would also benefit, but less than White students, at least in absolute numbers.)

Bottom line: it’s complicated!

Decimating their American Dream!

In the past few weeks, TJ parents and students have demonstrated to mourn “the loss of merit” and the “American Dream!” They were protesting the proposed changes to admissions.

Their view was that the school’s academic rigor would greatly diminish if students were admitted without an exam; also, it was an insult to alumni and current students to go from being the top high school in America to just another school!

Setting aside a few slots for disadvantaged minority students was one thing, said a parent, but to drastically change the entire entrance procedure “could destroy the school’s standing” by “diluting” the quality of the student body and “casting doubt” on its sought-after diplomas! Forcing unqualified children into a too rigorous academic environment could also “drive down TJ’s academic rating,” he added.

Another parent said that the new plan had one objective: to increase the number of White students at the expense of Asian immigrants! “This plan will decimate our American dream... Fairfax County was happy to have TJ be merit-based” as long as White students were getting a higher proportion of seats but, as soon as they became under-represented, it was “time for a change!”

Race-Blind? Not Really! 

Although the TJ test is supposedly race-blind, racial background and socio-economic status obviously play an outsize role in determining success. High-income families can pay for expensive test prep that give students a significant boost in the admissions process. 

Even in elementary school, Black and Hispanic students are less likely to be identified and recommended (by teachers and advisors) for accelerated classes and gifted programs that propel other students toward more challenging coursework in their later years.

For instance, Fairfax County administers a test to first- and second-graders that determines whether they qualify for the Advanced Academic Program (AAP), a gifted-and-talented program that is also widely viewed as a pipeline to TJ. The AAP is majority White and Asian; in 2019-2020, Black and Hispanic students made up just 18 percent of the highest-level AAP classes. 

Critics say this is because elementary level minority and low-income students have been unable to rise above their home environments and the often meager academic resources their parents can afford.

The admission test is undeniably a part of TJ’s persistent diversity problem. Research shows that Black, Hispanic, and low-income students tend to score worse on standardized tests than their White and Asian counterparts.

In 1997, Black and Hispanic students made up 9.4 percent of TJ’s student body, the highest representation it would ever achieve!  

Tempers Running High!  

Tempers were running high at the continuing protests organized by parents and students. They asked, what was the rationale for increasing racial diversity at TJ, but not on varsity teams? Why was it wrong to have “too many” Asians and “not enough” Blacks or Hispanics at TJ while it was perfectly acceptable to have “too many” Blacks on varsity football or basketball teams but “not enough” Asians or Hispanics?

“There is no rational reason why the demographics of TJ must reflect that of Fairfax County,” said a parent. “Should the NFL reflect the demographics of the U.S.?”

He added, “New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying this quota system with Stuyvesant High School, Brooklyn Technical School, and the Bronx High School of Science. They want to drop the entrance test because too many Asians pass it. Why should the most rigorous schools in the country reflect the demographics of their districts? That's as dumb as having admission to an Olympic team be based on a lottery! We will never beat China in STEM if we're so obsessed with equity uber alles!”

Actually, I think the China ship sailed a while ago! America has some catching up to do!  

Note that, the three New York City schools mentioned, base admissions entirely on standardized test scores resulting in student bodies that are largely Asian-American with very few Black and Hispanic students, even though the latter groups make up two-thirds of the city’s population!

A “TJ Track”

The best way to promote diversity, in my view, is to institute a TJ student pipeline that starts in elementary school when children are as young as six or seven. Begin by establishing youth outreach programs that target low-income and minority families. Improving communications with parents, letting them know the value of a STEM education, and finding out whether their child is interested in attending TJ, might have been a better route to take rather than summarily dropping the admissions test. 

If you went to a math or science competition in Fairfax, Northern Virginia, or the mid-Atlantic regions in the past ten years, you would have seen mostly Asian and a few White students, despite the math and science fairs being totally free of charge! That is a choice!  Look at aptitude scores: Asians from the lowest income groups score higher than others because parents push their children harder to focus on STEM. Again, that is a choice!  It takes parental sacrifice of time and money; students also miss out on sports and other extracurriculars — once again, a choice!

The Fairfax County Public Schools system should identify Black and Hispanic children — ideally at the elementary level — and put them on a “TJ track” by creating a one year prep school for them. They should target bright students with potential who have so far lacked the appropriate educational or social background but could nevertheless succeed in a rigorous environment.

There is only so much that local policymakers or school administrators or teachers can do to influence a parent or student. Parents must decide what their priorities are: do they want to spend their time and/or money on athletics or other activities as opposed to improving their child’s STEM-related skills?  

If the families don't have the resources for tutors, summer camps, and other expenses that go into prepping a child for TJ, then perhaps taxpayers could pick up this expense. Minority students still need to work extra hard to earn a seat and be competitive but, in the end, everyone benefits when all ethnicities are fairly represented.

This is a long-term solution. It should be noted that TJ’s racial inequity is not new. It has persisted for nearly 20 years and there is no quick-fix!

Are Quotas a Legitimate Objective? 

Should an elite specialized STEM school mirror the general demographics of a region and are race quotas ever a legitimate objective?

Many educators believe that, when quotas are used to admit less qualified applicants, the affirmative action goal posts are moved to include — not just rigging the admissions system — but also compromising the grading process to avoid the embarrassment of under-qualified students flunking out!  

A cloud of doubt often hangs over the heads of students who graduate this way. They fail to get the credit they deserve and are often looked at askance by peers and prospective employers! 

But this is possibly an extreme view not shared by all. 

Race and Affirmative Action

Universities, for instance, do consider race as a factor in admissions. 

According to studies, racial diversity promotes better learning outcomes and prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce. 

If race-based quotas work at the university level, surely they could also work at the high school level!

It is evident that students in diverse schools develop more complex thinking skills and are better prepared for a diverse workplace. 

Children of all backgrounds are also likelier to perform better in math when they attend racially and economically diverse schools. And being good at math is the whole point of TJ — it’s in the mission statement!

Whatever the merits or demerits of affirmative action, change at TJ is long overdue! Something must be done to level the playing field and to be inclusive of minorities who have suffered generational discrimination and segregation. 

As Brandon Kim, an Asian American TJ alum, put it, “everyone must accept the fact that TJ has a serious demographics problem... the time for change is now.”

Stay Tuned!

After the (rather daft!) lottery proposal was dropped, the school board asked the Fairfax Schools Superintendent to come up with a new and better proposal for reforming admissions. Stay tuned!

For TJ students, just as they’re trying to adjust to online learning, their school has become the center of a roiling debate with national implications. 

Although many students think it important to have a meaningful conversation about promoting fairness during this season of Black Lives Matter and racial justice demonstrations, they also feel that their school should be a place of learning, not of contention!

My Take

TJ needs to become more reflective of the community it serves. It’s policies have to change: the school board, the administrators, the community, and student leaders should all work together to achieve this. 

The most profound lesson — in my view — is that TJ alumni, students, and parents realize that they are better off with more diversity, not less! 

Hanging on to privilege (whether White or Asian) is not the answer! To upend the status quo which is so clearly unjust and exclusionary, they need to find common purpose across race, religion, gender, and other boundaries. A society that offers equal opportunity for all is (or should be) the real American dream!

Ludi Joseph

Washington, D.C.

October 22, 2020

 

The Impending Threat of Militias 

Armed to the teeth and often living on fortified compounds, militias are peculiar to the U.S. and an exclusively American phenom! They exist because of ultra liberal gun laws that would be anathema in any other country! Also known as White Supremacists, Alt Right, and Patriots, these hate groups have made a huge comeback since the 2016 election and are, in general, avid Donald Trump supporters.

Their basic ideology of hardline constitutionalism – fighting federal overreach and supporting local supremacy – has gained a greater acceptance nationwide. 

In the past six months, militia groups have been a presence at racial justice demonstrations where their members have got into ugly confrontations with Black Lives Matter protestors. 

Long aligned with anti-government causes, they have become more visible at “reopen” rallies that challenge coronavirus shutdowns. 

In Michigan, on April 30, hundreds of heavily armed Trump supporters, attempted to shove their way into the legislative chamber of the state capitol in Lansing, to protest extending Covid-19 lockdown orders. (Check out weblinked YouTube video and Vox article below.) Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) had pushed for the continuation of stay-at-home orders. But, despite several thousand Covid deaths in the state, Trump continued to inflame militia supporters with incendiary tweets demanding that the governor reopen schools, restaurants, and businesses.

Ruby Ridge and Waco

I met a reformed former militia member when I was a working journo. Some of the things I heard were chilling and I’ve reported on them in the past. (Note: these are facts, not opinions, and can be verified!)

In 1992, the U.S. Marshals Service (the oldest federal law enforcement agency that works with state and local bodies to arrest fugitives) went to a northern Idaho location that became known as Ruby Ridge. Their task was to find fugitive Randy Weaver who had failed to attend his trial on firearms charges. The siege at Ruby Ridge dragged on for weeks and ended in the deaths of an FBI agent and Weaver family members. Aryan Nation and other far-right Neo Nazi groups traveled to Ruby Ridge from all over the country to support Weaver against what they saw as persecution by a tyrannical federal government. 

The incident at Ruby Ridge marked the rebirth or revival of a modern militia movement, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has monitored the far right since the early 1980s. 

In 1993, cult leader David  Koresh and his Branch Davidians in Waco, TX refused to allow law enforcement to enter their premises to serve a search warrant: 76 members including 25 children were killed in a bungled FBI-ATF-military raid. Investigators later found that suicidal cult members - who were preparing for the Apocalypse and the Armageddon - probably lit the fires that engulfed the compound!

The Feds are coming for your Guns and Property!

The twin denouements of Ruby Ridge and Waco caused the Clinton-era FBI to lose credibility and trust. It also boosted far right narratives whose central theme had become: the corrupt Feds are coming for your guns and your property! 

Radical fringe groups with extreme anti-government beliefs began to stockpile arms in the expectation of defending themselves against a totalitarian “New World Order” — their favorite scenario (touted on their websites) was of jack-booted agents persecuting patriots while swooping in on black helicopters to establish world government! (The evil United Nations also had a role in there, somewhere!)

Ruby Ridge and Waco became rallying cries for many militia groups as it did for Timothy McVeigh who masterminded the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 civilians and injured about 700 others. McVeigh had strong links to Michigan militia. 

The myth of Ruby Ridge and Waco remain potent even today while McVeigh is considered a hero to militia groups!

McVeigh Wannabes!

In 2017, the FBI found an alleged copycat alt-right extremist, Jerry Varnell, who planned to blow up an Oklahoma bank using a vehicle bomb similar to the one that McVeigh used. Varnell hoped to spark a revolt against the federal government and told an FBI informant in a text message, according to court papers, “I'm going after government officials." 

Varnell is by no means the only McVeigh wannabe! A report from the Southern Poverty Law Center says that about a dozen people have been arrested since, including one who murdered two men on a train in Portland, OR for coming to the aid of two Muslim women who were being harassed. A blogger on the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website has suggested building a memorial to McVeigh — several militia members agree!

What are the Militias up to now?  

In the current era, militia groups — with their embrace of high-powered weapons — have turned their attention to other activities. They are acting as vigilante immigration enforcers on the southern border (including, killing unarmed Mexican teens) and as violent opponents to peaceful BLM protesters. Their activities were overlooked by law enforcement during recent unrest in Kenosha, WI, when Illinois teenager Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two men. 

Shared among the groups — comprised exclusively of White men — is contempt for BLM and its supposed ties to radical left-wing violence. All militias appear to have explicit, extreme, and racist ideologies, say Anti-Defamation League researchers who monitor the groups online.

Driven by Trump’s often misleading messaging, gun-toting militias have escalated their appearances nationwide, fueling concern among law enforcement and hate group watchers that they may cause more violence. 

They have squared off with BLM protesters all over the country and stood outside looted stores. Hundreds of them recently gathered in Gettysburg, PA driven by a threat of flag burning that turned out to be a hoax!

Many are also inspired by disinformation they read online about violence and organized looting campaigns tied to BLM. Trump and the Justice Department have exaggerated the role of the anarchist group Antifa without evidence, further provoking the militias.

For instance, there is a trove of Internet messages about billionaire philanthropist George Soros — the center of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories — paying for buses to carry BLM protestors to rallies, all of which turned out to be false!

Second Amendment Questions

Militias have long thrived across America due to the Second Amendment’s directive: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Clad in fatigues, with their trigger fingers at the ready on their loaded, battlefield-style rifles, held across heavy-duty Kevlar vests and other body armour, these quasi-troops like to show off, talking to each other on radios and headsets! The sight of grown men playing with guns would be outrageously funny if it wasn’t also deadly!

Despite the Second Amendment’s language about a "well-regulated Militia,” the U.S. Supreme Court has long said that the right to bear arms belongs to individuals alone, and does not prevent states from writing laws that bar the creation of citizen militias.

All 50 states now have similar laws or constitutional provisions that prohibit private military activity, according to the Georgetown University Law Center. After the violence in Charlottesville in 2017, the Law Center won court orders that barred individuals and organizations from returning to the city in groups of two or more with anything that could be used as a weapon at a rally.

“Open Carry”

“Open carry” refers to the practice of carrying openly visible firearms in public.

Changing gun laws — such as proliferating open carry provisions, the end of the assault weapons ban, and the Supreme Court’s Heller decision — mean that groups can bring (largely unchallenged) semiautomatic weapons, sidearms, and body armor into public places in a way that was not previously possible.

Historically, most states either prohibited or strongly regulated the carrying of firearms in public. Over the past three decades, however, state laws have changed drastically. Laws have been weakened to permit more and more people to carry guns in public places and eliminate local law enforcement’s ability to keep potentially dangerous people from publicly carrying guns.

There is one bright spot in this rigmarole! Although 44 states make it legal to openly carry a long gun in public, armed citizens would generally not have the right to use deadly force while protecting someone else's business.

Local Supremacy

The ideology of “local supremacy” is central to militia beliefs. They consider that the only real authority in law enforcement is the often pro-militia local sheriff and that the Feds (i.e., the Federal Government and its agencies such as the FBI, the ATF, the Marshals Service, and others) have no jurisdiction at all.

Militia groups have mounted direct challenges to the authority of federal agencies such as the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management resulting in agents facing violent harassment in the course of their work.

Contemporary patriot movement groups such as the Oath Keepers, which draws its members from military, law enforcement, and first responders (mostly rank and file), and the Three Percenters (also called 3 Percenters, 3% ers, and III% ers, an American and Canadian far-right paramilitary group) advocate strong adherence to the Constitution and gun ownership rights, and have all protested about an overreaching federal government. 

The various Light Foot Militias, seen on the streets of Charlottesville, profess different forms of anti-government ideology, such as fears about gun confiscation and grievances about federal land management practices. Some in fact claim to disavow racism and White Supremacy!

Members of the “Boogaloo” movement - whose stated aim is to provoke a second Civil War - range in ideology from anarchists to White Supremacists and have proved to be among the most violent. The FBI has arrested several members, including two charged with the murder of a federal security guard in an Oakland, CA courthouse in May, amid protests in the city.

Unlike earlier waves of the militia movement which was mainly confined to rural areas, newer groups have — since Trump’s inauguration — come fully armed into Democrat-controlled cities. This has been evident during the wave of rightwing protests claiming to provide security and protection for “free speech.”

Down with Taxes!

In addition to stockpiling firearms, most militia groups don’t believe in paying taxes: property tax, income tax, sales tax, but many expect to get a government dole!  

White Supremacists have long said that the Feds would put patriots into concentration camps and claim to know where in the continental U.S. this secret network of camps is located. Maps have also been circulated!

Some militias are less belligerent than others: they are chiefly survivalists, stockpiling food and water and building underground shelters, preparing for cataclysmic disruptions in the social and political order, including total financial collapse, environmental disaster, nuclear explosions, and epidemics. 

On the whole, they hate Jews, Muslims, non-Whites, non-Christians! Some think that Trump is the Second Coming - of Christ! 

Their numbers multiplied during the Obama Administration: they couldn’t stomach the idea of a Black as president! They’re often poor, uneducated, and prone to alcohol and opioid addiction! 

Emboldened in the Trump Era

More emboldened in the Trump era, militia groups — who were once very secretive — are organizing openly on social media. 

Some of the far right ideas have been brought into the mainstream by radio broadcasters such as Alex Jones, who has embraced the 9/11 “truth” movement (which asserts that the U.S. Government may be complicit in the September 11 attacks) and united it with other bizarre conspiracy themes within the militia movement. 

The willingness of militia groups to turn out in large numbers in volatile situations is a striking development. In Charlottesville, in 2017, Virginia’s then governor, Terry McAuliffe, held back local law enforcement because they felt outgunned by militia.

The conclusion is that the militias are far more menacing in 2020 than they were in the 1990s. 

No Holds Barred!

Many militia groups once lived quietly in the American heartland, cut off from society, inventing imaginary scenarios to kill police but not doing much about it until now when they have a kindred spirit in D.C. openly encouraging them! Now, it’s no holds barred!  

According to militia trackers, these groups - such as the newer “Boogaloos” - are fundraising like crazy and recruiting like crazy, getting prepped for Civil War 2.0! 

Let us thank our stars that the FBI is taking them seriously!  

Ludi Joseph

Washington, D.C.

October 10, 2020

Armed protesters enter Michigan's state capitol demanding end to coronavirus lockdown

Armed protesters entered Michigan’s state Capitol during rally against stay-at-home order