Trump's acquittal requires retaining a sense of righteous anger
Holding space for anger at injustice is a way of holding onto our humanity.
We knew that this would happen. It was unlikely that 17 Republican Senators would join with Democrats to convict Trump during his second impeachment. But when the verdict came in on Saturday, February 13, 2021–just over a month after a violent insurrection at the Capitol in support of the former president–it was still infuriating.
Trump’s acquittal is infuriating because five people died in the insurrection, including one Capitol police officer killed that day and two more officers who died by suicide in the aftermath.
Trump’s acquittal is infuriating because Eugene Goodman–the Black police officer who saved lives by diverting the mob away from the Senate chamber–should never have had to put his life on the line in the first place.
Trump’s acquittal is infuriating because a bipartisan majority that included seven Republicans casting a “guilty” vote was not enough to convict him.
Trump’s acquittal is infuriating because even the largest margin of bipartisan votes in an impeachment trial in history was not enough to bring justice.
Trump’s acquittal is infuriating because so many Black and Brown people made every effort to vote, in the midst of a pandemic, and helped deliver this nation from a demagogue bent on enshrining a fascist regime instead of a government of, by, and for the people.
Trump’s acquittal is infuriating because Black people in America remain the staunchest defenders of the right to vote in free and fair elections even though democracy has so often failed them.
Read the rest of the article at The Witness, a Black Christian Collective.