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The Morning I Came Across a Fascist
He was thirteen.
In the summer of 2020, during the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer as officers watched, when protestors filled the streets of every major American city, Sen. Tom Cotton, who was recently voted unanimously by his party to assume leadership in the U.S. Senate, wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times (1) that the time had come for the US military to stop the ‘anarchy’ and ‘looting,’ using all force necessary.
Since the publishing of that op-ed, Cotton’s opinion has been exposed as based on false evidence and labelled ‘fascist.’ (2)
Since the publishing of that op-ed, Cotton’s labelling as ‘fascist’ has been labelled misguided and irresponsible. (3)
America will hear a lot more from Cotton as he has been elected as the chief public voice of Senate Republicans. One has an opportunity to explore what in America we identify as ‘fascist’ and how one moves forward to challenge what will undoubtedly be a new repression of dissent and protest.
A thirteen-year-old from my past provides an insight.
The task of leading a morning middle/high school assembly had fallen to me, a twenty-seven-year-old art teacher. I could speak on any subject. I was asked simply to hold their attention for ten to fifteen minutes to…
