Today, American democracy was under attack.

But as a matter of fact, American democracy was under attack a month ago; it was under attack a decade ago. In fact, American democracy was never inviolable. It was always subject to the instability of an unequal society that chose to hang its hat on the myth of equality instead of working toward a better reality.

America has always imagined itself as a place where true democracy reigns. Yet every time the "wrong" people tried to exercise their First Amendment rights (specifically, black and brown people), they were told that their voices did not matter, that they should not be heard, that they were too loud. There was no right way to protest. America began to avoid admitting that prejudice enforced the status quo.

We have seen this play out time and again throughout history. Today we celebrate the fact that women fought for the right to vote, when in fact only white women gained that right in 1920, and black women did not gain the same right until 1965. We celebrate the civil rights movement, but ignore the fact that the reasons why this movement was needed in the first place are still unresolved. Years of invalidating the votes of the marginalized have brought us to this moment: the reality that millions of Americans, people who do not look like them or think like them, have the right to vote and to make choices not only for themselves but for the future of our country. are unable to imagine.

Democracy is fundamentally a system of compromise, and America has never truly learned what it means to cooperate. Nor has it realized that while it may be possible to meet in the middle on things like the width of a road, it is impossible to do so on human rights. Kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial discrimination? Problem. Demonstrate in favor of reproductive rights" Problem. For years, Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality have been equated with looting and terrorism. At every turn, Black Lives Matter protesters were subjected to armed police, tear gas, death threats, and sometimes criminal charges. Nevertheless, the U.S. decided that the protests were the problem and that they needed to be stopped. It refused to understand that the best way to stop protests is to address the effects of systemic inequality, not to claim that inequality does not exist.

Now, after years of too many people pretending that the "Black Lives Matter" protests were a danger to the future of the country, today we see the true face of domestic terrorism. We saw the faces of white people waving the flag of a failed attempt at organized treason. We saw the backs of the con artists who stormed the Capitol in hopes of overturning free and fair elections, and we saw the hate-filled faces of those who think they have found a new path to power. What greater threat could there be than people storming the halls of government to prevent a peaceful transition of leadership?

By nightfall, we saw real efforts to get these people out of the halls of Congress, but the first thing we saw were police officers posing for selfies with the so-called "protesters" (opens in new tab). As if they were the ones who needed protection. We heard those who scoff at the idea of democracy call themselves patriots. These are the people America has elected over and over again.

Tomorrow is a new day and I hope America is ready to face the past and the present to create a better future. We have the option before us to break the cycle and work directly on the problems and solutions to prevent history from repeating itself.

Mikki Kendall is the author of "Food Feminism" (open in new tab) and "Amazon, Abolitionist, Activist."