It should come as no surprise: Charlottesville is who we are

Charlottesville is exactly who we are. That isn’t a popular thing to say, but it’s true. What we saw in Charlottesville isn’t new. White America may be surprised, but black America isn’t. Charlottesville is exactly what happens when you repeatedly dog-whistle at the lowest common denominator. Charlottesville is exactly what happens when you normalize coded language like calling the first black president “the food stamp president.” Charlottesville is exactly what happens when the people who attempt to warn the masses are called “paranoid” and labeled as “fear mongering.”

When winning a political argument becomes more important than being a decent human being, we end up with Charlottesville. When appearing on television becomes more important than having something substantive to say, we end up with Charlottesville. When people with a spotlight choose to use revisionist history to exacerbate tensions, we end up with Charlottesville. All of this is connected. The events of Charlottesville should come as a surprise to no one. They played out exactly like many of us warned it would.

What has surprised me, however, are the intelligent Republican pundits willingly embarrassing themselves by coming to the defense of this president. It shouldn’t be complicated. There is no defense for the president’s comments. There is no argument that can wash away the hate and ignorance, dropping from his words. There are not two sides to the story of Charlottesville, no matter how much revisionist history they use.

{mosads}Every time I see pundits and politicians bending over backwards to defend the indefensible, I wonder whether they realize that their tweets will outlast this administration. I wonder whether they realize that history is longer than our daily cable news cycle. I wonder whether they understand that history will judge them accordingly. I wonder whether they believe the words coming out of their mouths or whether they are merely playing a character for television. It’s not easy to tell anymore, but neither answer is reassuring.

To be fair, the overwhelming majority of Republicans have come out and condemned the president’s comments. I have received thoughtful emails and messages condemning the president and reassuring me that the events unfolding are not reflective of the Republican Party as a whole. But where was that condemnation on Election Day? Where was the outrage when it came time to select a president? Where was the outrage from Republicans when Trump was spewing vile rhetoric on the campaign trail?

It’s not enough to condemn intolerance. Republicans have to forcefully call it out when it happens because it will happen again. It is not enough to call ourselves patriots or throw around words like freedom and liberty. We have to live up to the meaning of those words. They cannot merely be symbolic. If you still voted for him after everything he said during the campaign, your words ring hollow. Hillary Clinton may have been a flawed candidate, but in my opinion, Trump is a flawed human being. No amount of criticism about her emails will ever change that.

None of what we’re hearing from Trump is new. The president has repeatedly showed America exactly who he is. He has repeatedly showed America exactly what he believes, so please forgive me when I say that I’m not surprised that Trump once again proved himself to be an embarrassment. Now that we all know who our president is, and now that we all know what our president believes in, we have a decision to collectively make. We can let Charlottesville be a tipping point, or we can let it be another moral failure. We are so past politics at this point.

This conversation is so much deeper than tax breaks and healthcare policy. This about what we value. This is about whom we value. This is about what kind of country we will be. Charlottesville is who we are now, but it doesn’t have to be who we are moving forward. We can change course and chart a new path. We can demand better from not only our politicians, but our people as well. We can be better.

Michael Starr Hopkins is an attorney and former member of the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He regularly appears on Fox News and CNN to talk about national politics. You can follow him on Twitter @TheOnlyHonest.

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