Since the election I catch myself randomly thinking of Ernst Röhm. He was the leader of the SA – the Brown Shirts – before the war. These were the assholes who went around beating the shit out of opposition party leaders and striking fear into voters. Real classy motherfuckers. He was also a Nazi before Hitler made it cool.
When I started seeing the breakdown of voter demographics I thought about him. When I saw that latino men voted majority for Trump I thought about him. When I saw that Gen-X voted majority for Trump I thought of him. Whenever I see a brown or black man in and ICE uniform I think of him. And, obviously, whenever I see a member of the LGBTQIA+ community support Trump I think of Ernst Röhm.
Röhm was gay in an organization that sought to beat that shit out of German society. I won’t pretend to know what made him think he would be exempt from the contempt or persecution of the Nazis, but he thought he was. Until he wasn’t.
Eventually, he was no longer a useful idiot to the party so they did away with him. Pew! Pew! Style.
All these motherfuckers from marginalized communities carrying water for the current administration didn’t learn from history so they will, no doubt learn the hard way. Maybe not the say way Röhm did, but someone they love will get deported. Hell, a latino serving in ICE today might end up deported tomorrow because why the fuck would the government want to keep paying you when your service is no longer required.
Proximity – to power, to whiteness, to whatever you think is safe – is never the same thing as actually being the thing in power, or being white, or being safe.
