A Civil War Between America’s Privileged Has Arrived

The coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol was 2021’s first strike — and things could get uglier

Bonsu Thompson
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Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Today’s free world is white-hot.

The Divided States of America seethes from both ends. One half includes the Donald Trump faithful, which days ago stormed, scaled, and penetrated the U.S. Capitol like a ninth-century Scandinavian platoon. They accredit their rage to the phantom of a rigged election and the reality of electoral votes putting a final nail in the coffin of their defeated leader.

It’s also quite possible that the catalyst was Georgia painting both its Senate seats indigo — one secured by a Black man — which added insult to an already injured red party.

Liberals populate the second hemisphere. Those who not only voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris but also, despite their blood-orange president, helped pump new blue into American democracy over the past few years. They made household names of elected officials like Levar Stoney, AOC, and now Jon Ossoff. Although liberals and Trumpeteers are marketed as nemeses, their primary makeup and inspiration are uncomfortably identical. White people make up the majority on both sides. Most noteworthy, both so-called sworn enemies are fueled by the same octane: patriotic…

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Bonsu Thompson
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Writer for

Bonsu Thompson is a writer, producer, Brooklynite and 2019 Sundance Screenwriters Lab fellow.