An example of conventional and damaging historical narratives is the lie that the Red Scare was about fear of communism and not a concentrated effort to oppress African Americans, women, LGTBQ, labor unions, socialists, and dismantle the New Deal/social safety net.
The Red Scare wasn’t just a phenomenon, it was a strategy used by Republicans and the wealthy to oppress vulnerable populations, attack the New Deal, destroy organized labor, and marshal white, patriarchal supremacy for the purposes of consolidating power.
Pretending like this wasn’t the case, like America just suddenly and spontaneously got very scared of Russia, not only obfuscates an intentional strategy that hurt the country and its people, but keeps us from understanding how those sane strategies are STILL HAPPENING TODAY.
It’s infuriating to watch people who should know better treat this Republican Party and the cesspool of white supremacist paranoia like it’s a new phenomenon that nobody could possibly explain or have seen coming. It’s malpractice, disingenuous, and damaging.
Americans need to take a long, hard, sobering look at their past, strip it of star-spangled wonder, and recognize this train was a long time getting here. Only then are we going to even begin repairing the damage done and escaping this crisis. It’s a big job but we can do it.
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