Just Another Lynch Mob: A Leftist Historian's Reflections on the Storming of the Capitol

Just Another Lynch Mob, a work consisting of essays, puts the events of Jan.6th 2021 in historical perspective. The main premise is that the events on Capitol Hill was a variation of something that has occurred over 4,500 times in American history. The basic claim is the attack on the Capitol was, at its core, was just another old fashion lynch mob. Through the essays, this work covers the purposes and history of lynching in the United States. These writings shows a long history of these mobs not only attacking individuals, but also governments that appear to be too supportive of the rights of Blacks. The intention of the essays is to also show the failure of the media and leading politicians of all parties to connect the attack on the Capitol to other actions of white nationalist racists in the past; that were used to destroy the multiracial governments created in Reconstruction; and, as "race riots" that destroyed successful communities of color; and, to spread terror and intimidation against all those who opposed the rule of the white nationalist racist of the past.The historical failure of "now" is the failure to show t this Capitol Hill event was just another use of a lynch mob to both maintain "white power" and to eliminate the influence of Black voters for election outcomes. Mobs were used in the past to successfully do such things without much consequence to those who conducted the lynching. The same outcome looks likely now for the thousands with attacked.Some essays compare Jim Crow states with those governed by Fascist parties. These essays show our Jim Crow governments were not only similar to modern day fascism, but was the longest lasting of al fascist societies. Much of what is now seen as "Trumpism" is really just a recreation of the ideology and rhetoric that was used to maintain Fascism in the American South in the past, and now threatens to control the entire country. Then it embodied in the KKK, now its Trumpism.These essays show the first attempts to create this independent Fascist nation failed with the Civil War. But the South did create their fascist society with what is called the "Second Civil War." This low level war was conducted with wide spread use of lynch mobs and armed insurrections against governments established through Reconstruction (with the mob actions glorified in such works as Birth of a Nation, and Gone with the Wind). The lynch mobs' was used then to maintaining "white power" where it could. Therefore, the lynch mob that attacked the Capitol was not something original, nor based only on the lies of Trump, but was something seen many times in our history; the effort to eliminate Black votes. Trump's" big lie" is true, with Black votes eliminated. Trump won a landslide, among white voters. President Biden calls for healing the nation by presenting "truth." This work is a record of the "truth" that is now mostly avoided. Until we confront the actual history that led to this new assault, and see it as part of a the long term patterns of terror, the healing cannot really begin. In addition, without this understanding of our violent history, the nation faces another potential "Jim Crow Era," as state after state which Trump won moves into fast action to restrict voting access and option. Their intent, as it has been for decades, is to assure that no longer minority voters can be the determining factor in elections. This collection of essays gives the foundation for the well grounded fear that the type of Fascism that once dominated parts of this nation, and was used by Trump to try and establish a form of nationalist state, has not ended with the election of Biden. It has only entered a new phase. A phase much like when the defeated Confederates regained power. A phase that once again uses "tools of terror," such as the one used on January 6th, 20212; an old fashion American lynch mob, that acted with the same intent of previous mobs.