SAN ANTONIO – Watching largely white mobs rampage through the U.S. Capitol, supporters of the local Black Lives Matter movement said the disparity was painfully obvious.
“If those were black people, what we would have saw was a bloody Wednesday,” said Valerie Reiffert, a founder of Radical Registrars.
Dr. Gregory Hudspeth, president of the San Antonio branch of the NAACP, agrees with Reiffert.
“Had that been African-Americans, we would see a lot more bloodshed,” Hudspeth said.
Kimiya Factory, president of Black Freedom Factory, an organization that promotes data-driven activism, communal advocacy as well as race, diversity and equity, said, “It was really disappointing to see the double standard play out.”
The three said what began as peaceful BLM protests for racial justice last summer ended in confrontations with police nationwide.
“We were met with tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, regular bullets,” Reiffert said.
Huspeth said seeing what was happening within weeks of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, it was clear.
“We still live in a society in which we are treated unequally based on the color of our skins,” he said.
Hudspeth said President Donald Trump has “invited” domestic terrorism, one of the reasons why the NAACP wants him impeached.
He also said the 25th Amendment that is used when a president is “incapacitated” for some reason should be enforced now.
“He is an irrational person, and we’re not sure what’s going to happen over the next 13 days,” Hudspeth said.
Factory said what needs to happen are “uncomfortable conversations” and support for groups that advocate change like Black Freedom Factory.
“It’s the only way that we can move forward in a society that has, you know, racist agendas,” Factory said.
Hudspeth said the NAACP will continue to work toward racial justice
“The NAACP is a nonpartisan organization, so we are neither Democrats nor are we Republicans,” Hudspeth said. “But we are Americans, and what happened yesterday was very unAmerican.”
“People keep saying this is not America. This is absolutely America. This is what America has been, and this is what America is,” Reiffert said.
She said anyone who doesn’t like what they saw should be part of the change that America needs.
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