Race stands as a backdrop in Jan. 6 committee hearings on Capitol Hill

By Gerren Keith Gaynor, theGrio

During interviews with theGrio, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and former Trump impeachment manager Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett reflect on the attack committed by a mostly white mob.

After nearly a year of investigating the horrific events of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, the House committee that was formed to uncover the root causes of the deadly and violent attack is finally releasing its findings in a series of hearings on the Hill.

The House committee’s presentation to the American public will focus on extremist groups that committee members will show conspired to obstruct Congress through a coordinated attack. But a running thread that may or may not emerge in the renewed attention on the events of Jan. 6 is the role that race played in the unprecedented insurrection. 

While not all of the more than 2,000 insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol building were white (and male), a great majority of them were. What’s more, countless images of that fateful day showed insurrectionists toting symbols of hate and white supremacy, including a noose displayed near the Capitol, the confederate flag and even the “white power” hand gesture, among others.

“Black Americans had to see the insurrectionists resurrect the Confederacy in front of the Capitol in a way that I think was very suggestive of the types of white supremacist activities we’ve seen in modern-day America,” Nicol Lee Turner, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, told theGrio.

Check out the original article to see how the attack is inextricably linked with racism.

Journalists have noted the symbols of white supremacy that were displayed by rioters that day, and some highlight how the insurrection coincides with other threats against black voters and advocates.

Check back on our breaking news page for the results of this investigation.