Originally Posted on Medium

“It’s like being in a room full of people in here, trying to teach and no one is listening. The vast majority seemed to hang on to what seemed like hate, and fear, and almost warmongering, and I don’t want to associate myself with warmongers.”

Those were the words of Ammon Bundy, the Mormon Confucius, upon quitting the militia movement. Little does he know, he just described America in general. That’s how it’s been since the rise of Trump.

Sure, racism existed before Trump. In fact, we saw it fester to the surface after Barack Obama was elected. A lot of people enjoy blaming Obama for bringing “racism back to America” but the fact is, it’s never gone anywhere. Blaming Obama for everything is a Tea Party tactic based on racism using coded language. In fact, it can be argued that those responsible for the modern-day explosion of racism on the Internet falls solely on the shoulders of Tea Partiers.

The Tea Party came into the mainstream in response to the election of Barack Obama and Donald Trump capitalized on it like the grifter that he is. The Tea Party normalized hate online. You can argue with me about it all you want but you wouldn’t have to go very far in the Wayback Machine to see it. Honestly, it’s an inarguable fact and I won’t argue it with far-right trolls.

It seems as though Mormon Confucius doesn’t realize that he, and his militia, were a large part of that normalization (I say “large part” because of the media attention they received for acting like children who didn’t get their way). His success, if that’s what you want to call it, emboldened every other militia in America. Including the racist militias. Yes, there are many racist militias in America.

While Mormon Confucius doesn’t appear to hold racist views, consider for a second that even racist militias weren’t sure about that. One thing is certain, militias are mostly anti-government. That is until it comes to targeting people of color on our streets and our borders. Then, what they stand for becomes abundantly clear.

Don’t believe me about racist militias? Just look at how so many “I’m not racist, but…” people came for Ammon Bundy online after his little statement and his leaving the militia movement. It’s gotten so bad that he has had to shut down his social media over death threats from other members of his own militia along with members of many others. All because he spoke out about Trump’s policies towards migrants. Because he stood in solidarity with migrants. Because he chose the right side of history on this particular issue.

Look, I probably don’t agree with Ammon Bundy on 90% of the issues we face in America, but he’s right about this. It’s clear that his moral compass is fucking with him. What is blatantly obvious here is that he is seeing that “the vast majority” of the militia movement hangs on “hate and fear” and that clearly doesn’t sit well with him.

So while people laugh and mock him and others see fit to threaten him, there is a point being made here that the vast majority of Americans need to pay attention to. It’s all in his quoted statement above. It’s exactly why so many in the militia movement are angry at him. It’s him exposing them for what they are and what the vast majority of Americans know them to be. They are fear-mongers. They sow division and hate. They arm themselves not just because they are afraid of the government, but many of them are preparing for some sort of civil war.

Look at it this way. If you were in a militia and found yourself taking sides with any branch of government, then you’re not exactly anti-government are you? It became obvious when the Black Lives Matter movement started gaining traction. These same anti-government militias took sides with law-enforcement. They took sides with those who commit nothing short of government-sanctioned killings. They took sides with those who would “come and take it” if they were ordered to do so. They even allowed, by invitation, the recruitment of these mostly white officers among their ranks. The contradictions of these militias are beyond oxymoronic.

It’s sad that things had to get so bad for Ammon Bundy to see it.

But hey, I’m glad he did.

His action followed by his words adds to the evidence that validates what we’ve always known about hate groups in America. Many of them are terrorist organizations. Don’t forget, the first armed militia, that still exists today, is the Ku Klux Klan and that wasn’t by accident. Neither was the disarming of the Black Panthers after labeling them a terror group while actual hate groups are never labeled as such.

America’s history of disarming people of color while allowing our white counterparts to be armed without restriction has never been represented better (in modern times) than what has just occurred with the statement from Ammon Bundy.

Remember, if a person of color commits a crime and their accomplices are shot and killed by police, justified or not, that person of color can be charged with murder as the officers get away with it. When Mormon Confucius took over a government facility, an action that lead to the death of one of his own cohorts, he and the federal agent who killed him, got away scot free.

Militias have always come to the aid of white folks. They have NEVER come to the aid of people of color, women, or any other marginalized groups no matter how bad the government oppresses our communities. Militias are clearly a white man’s game and Ammon Bundy just helped prove that.