We Told You. We Told All of You.

The wannabe dictator leaves office after inciting violence and eroding public trust. The damage is irreparable.

There’s this scene in the 2000 hit movie Remember the Titans that I think about a lot. The T.C. Williams Titans, Alexandria’s first integrated high school in Virginia in the early 1970’s, had just secured a massive win. As they take to town to celebrate, a well-intentioned White teammate from California, Ronnie Bass (also known as Sunshine), insists that he and some of his Black teammates patron what is known to locals as a Whites-Only restaurant. Some of Bass’ teammates, led by Petey Jones, do their best to informally let Bass know that Black people aren’t welcome in that establishment. Bass is unrelenting, assures Jones and the others that this restaurant is different, and the group walk-in. Upon entry, the White patrons stare at the group, a server comes to the front to affirm only Whites can dine-in, and the group leaves the restaurant.

The seminal part of the scene is at the end. As the group walks out the establishment, Jones pushes Bass. Bass seems genuinely apologetic, after all, he was well-intentioned, even if obtusely ignorant. Jones replies excitedly “We told you! What you mean you didn’t know?”

It’s hard for me to find a better clip of pop-culture to define the last four years.

Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States, leaves office today, and while I’m tempted to say something like “our long national nightmare is over”, I am convinced now more than ever that it has only just begun.

To those of us well-versed in history and the language of misogynistic, self-absorbed, White supremacists, nothing that has happened in the last four years has been a surprise. Just two weeks ago, a violent mob of insurrectionists invaded the Capitol and stormed the halls, with every intention of kidnapping some lawmakers and killing others. During the day of the siege, online streaming feeds let it be known that what was actually happening inside the Capitol was far more worrisome than what cable news portrayed. Yet the primary antagonists of the riot, the president himself, two U.S. Senators known as Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, have faced no repercussions in the two weeks sense. Suddenly, the most prestigious body in the country, and the most sought-after office in the land, don’t seem so shiny after all.

There’s a lot to take away from the last four years, but the most notable one is this – if you voted for the outgoing president, in either election, you share culpability in what happened at the Capitol on January 6. You are partly responsible for the rise of hate crimes and White supremacist organizations. Your hands remain stained with the blood of many of those that have lost their lives because of this uncontrolled pandemic. Your “reason” is irrelevant. No matter what other considerations you had in mind, you looked at this, this, this and this and thought, in some form or fashion, “yeah, I’m OK with that.”

Nikki Haley warned us during the general election in 2016. Haley was serving as South Carolina Governor the previous year when a White supremacist shot and killed nine Black worshippers in Charleston, South Carolina. When asked about the president’s rhetoric on the campaign trail in the summer of 2016, Haley replied “I know what that rhetoric can do.” Meaning, Trump affirms and effectuates violence among racists. Meaning, what you hear from this man on the campaign trail is not unlike the rhetoric used in manifestos by radicalized young men that kill in the name of White supremacy. Haley then served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. I’m sure she was well-intentioned in that role.

President Biden and Vice-President Harris assume office with a series of unprecedented challenges. From the economy and pandemic to our looming mental health crisis, the incoming administration has a historically long list of sins to clean up from the outgoing one. Yet in the face of history, when examined through the lens of nefarious doing and gross neglect, you can forgive a financial collapse; an energy and confidence shortage; a concerted political coverup; trading arms for hostages; a little mission creep in Southeast Asia. But 74,222,959 people in this country chose four more years of sexist, racist, bigoted, homophobic, authoritarian, violence-inducing leadership. How well-intentioned you were in that vote means absolutely nothing. You still signed up for it, even after we implored you not to. Without a proven record of rehabilitation, I don’t think that trust can ever be restored.

F.E. Curtis, II is a political strategist and author of the new poetry book, I’m NOT Okay, Thanks for Asking.