The attack on American democracy that we all witnessed today has been not four years, but four hundred years in the making. It grows out of a perverted understanding of America not as an imperfect, always unrealized effort to embody ideals of democracy, freedom and equality …

… but rather the white man’s paradise. Perverted and deadly though it is, this racist and violent vision of our nation was written into our founding document by some of the same men who also articulated the ideals which the best among us have sacrificed so much to achieve.

We must be clear-eyed about the task before us. Some would sacrifice democracy before they will allow another step’s worth of progress toward equality. We must overcome this depraved vision of America.

Clinging to platitudes will weaken rather than strengthen us in this struggle. We must be honest about our flaws as we confront the enemies of democracy. Only in this way, and with the courage not to flinch from the fight, can we save that which is best in America.