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.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Jared Yates Sexton

Jared Yates Sexton Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @JYSexton

10 Mar
The Republican Party isn’t concerned with earning votes, broadening its appeal, passing legislation to help people, and they’re not worried about how increasingly revolting they are to Americans.

They’re focused on eliminating the vote of the people who reject them.
It doesn’t matter that the Relief Bill is overwhelmingly, jaw-droppingly popular, or that the Republican base is dwindling as they refuse to govern in favor of attention stunts designed to produce cringey faux-outrage.

The point is to produce a radicalized minority ruling class.
People still want to treat the GOP like it’s a party. It’s not. It’s a fascistic, antidemocratic movement that serves as the public face and sabotaging body of the white, wealthy, and powerful who want to dismantle government and roll back rights.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/there-is-no-…
Read 4 tweets
8 Mar
We need to talk about how the British Monarchy is a living, breathing monument to white supremacy and how the Right there and in America use mythologies of exceptionalism to hide their blatant, murderous oppression.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-british-…
The British and American empires were constructed on slave labor and the militarized exploitation and destruction of the cultures of people of color. The violent reaction to this unassailable fact being pointed out only proves how brittle the lie really is.
Jokes like Ben Shapiro are already using the Allies fighting the Nazis as cover for the fact America and Britain both contributed to fascist and Nazi philosophy and the logistics of their genocidal project. It’s a fairytale that hides a bloody history of oppression.
Read 6 tweets
8 Mar
Let’s be clear. Poisonous, white supremacist, paranoid conspiracy theories aren’t a new thing for the GOP.

This is the party of the Red Scare, the John Birch Society, the New World Order, and climate denial. All used to help curb reform and benefit the wealthy and powerful.
No one’s going to “discover” their conscience. It’s a matter of calculating whether conspiracy theories that destroy society hurt or help their chances of holding onto or consolidating power.

It’s who the Republicans are.
This current cesspool of Right Wing conspiracy culture didn’t just pop out of nowhere. It’s the logical evolution of a long, long heritage of weaponized conspiracies meant to destroy the social safety net, defeat reform, and redirect anger toward vulnerable populations.
Read 4 tweets
6 Mar
Republicans hijacking an attempt to help Americans who are starving or seconds away from being thrown in the streets to harass, demonize, and needlessly attack trans people is just a perfect encapsulation of this dreary, awful moment.
Again. There is no Republican Party. It is not a political party with a coherent ideology or any plan or intention to make anything better for anyone besides the wealthiest white few. Everything else is theater, performative, strategic theater.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/there-is-no-…
The GOP has reached its ideological conclusion and only exists now as a festering fascistic movement that serves as the public face and organizer for the wealthy and powerful. There is no plan beyond dismantling government and targeting vulnerable populations.
Read 4 tweets
28 Feb
I know plants need to reproduce for civilization to continue, I just wish they’d leave me out of it.
My life is now pollen. Relentless, ever present pollen.
One morning of pollen. Taken with a phone coated in pollen by a person covered in and breathing and transporting pollen.
Read 4 tweets
28 Feb
There is no Republican Party. The GOP has no principles beyond the pursuit of power, profit, and the dismantling of government for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful.

They have reached the end of their ideological line.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/there-is-no-…
I know a lot of people are desperately hoping Republicans will find their consciences, but there’s no *there* there.

This is a mass of boiling contradictions that seeks only power and can only communicate via rage and bloody oppression.
What we’ve witnessed, over the past few years, is the reveal of the GOP as a fascist movement to protect the white, wealthy, and powerful, an angry and violent rejection of democracy and human dignity. There is no saving them, there is no unity, there’s only avoiding tragedy.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!