On Wednesday, Jan. 6, the Black Women’s Roundtable along with the entire world witnessed a brazen insurrection and an attempted assault on the Congress in the U.S. Capitol Building by a treasonous and violent mob—inspired by President Donald Trump, while Congress attempted to officially certify the Electoral College victory of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris. The attack was an attempt to stop the Electoral College vote count taking place in a joint session by Congress, that devolved into a violent raid by thousands of primarily white rioters nationalists who lawlessly stormed into the Capitol Building, penetrated the chambers and ransacked & looted Congressional offices.
Comments Melanie L. Campbell, President & CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) and Convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable (BWR), “Yesterday, the world witnessed white privilege at its worst, when a mob made up of thousands of mostly white racists and white nationalists were allowed by federal police to violently storm and temporarily take over the building of the U. S. Capitol. The police force on duty to stop the attack appeared to be woefully inadequate and unprepared. Four people lost their lives.
“I know in my heart and through lived experience as a Black woman, organizer and activist who has participated in civil disobedience and been arrested at the U. S. Capitol (see link below), that if this mob had been a crowd of Black protestors, there is no way they would have been able to take over the grounds of the Capitol and breach that building without being stopped with the full force of law enforcement and thousands would have been locked up or even killed (NCBCP President Arrested at U.S. Capitol building video HERE ).
“The attack on the Capitol was nothing less than a failed coup attempt to stop the Congress from confirming the will of the American people, who voted for and elected VP Joe Biden as the 46th President and Senator Kamala Harris elected as the Vice President, who is the first woman and first African American and Asian elected to the second highest office in the nation. This was the worst display of ‘sanctioned’ domestic terrorism I have ever seen in my life.
“That attack on Congress as it attempted to do the people’s work of affirming last month’s historic election resembled what happens in countries ruled by despots and dictators, not in the United States of America, where we call ourselves a democracy.
“[Wednesday] should have been the day we took the time to fully celebrate what representative democracy really means for all of us. We should have been celebrating the historic victories of the first African American from Georgia, Rev. Raphael Warnock, and Jon Ossoff, the youngest candidate from Georgia to be elected to the U. S. Senate. We should have been celebrating the hard work and tireless efforts of the Black women, men and youth in Georgia helped to ensure the Black vote turned out in record numbers and votes were protected in the January 4th Run-Off in Georgia, including NCBCP state affiliates and partners—Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda, Georgia Stand-UP, Clayton County GA Black Women’s Roundtable and Georgia Black Women’s Roundtable.
“Instead of celebrating, we were forced to witness an unruly mob of ‘deplorables’ who were encouraged by a lawless and unhinged President. Congress needs to take action now to remove President Trump from office to save our democracy from a wanna-be dictator and the American people from hurt, harm or danger.”
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