What We Can Learn From Literary Giant, Toni Morrison: When A Nobel Prize-Winning Writer of Fiction Takes On Fascism BY CAM MACQUEEN CULTIVATING COMPASSION
Asian people, women, Queer and Trans people. We are called to rectify the wrongs of the past in order to course correct our current trajectory and avoid the final step that extinguishes the democratic experiment. The little progress this country has made since its founding is being rolled back with speed, laser focus, decades of planning, and extreme political pressure and dirty tricks. As flawed as it is and always has been, the alternative is far worse. Morrison’s chillingly prescient list of 10 characteristics needed for the establishment of fascism and authoritarianism bears repeating and studying — her words follow. Think of the many ways the current administration is adhering to her template: “… Let us be reminded that before there is a final solution, there must be a first solution, a second one, even a third. The move toward a final solution is not a jump. It takes one step, then another, then an - other. Something, perhaps, like this: (1) Construct an internal enemy, as both focus and diversion. (2) Isolate and demonize that enemy by unleashing and protecting the utterance of overt and coded name-calling and verbal abuse. Em- ploy ad hominem attacks as legitimate charges against that enemy. (3) Enlist and create sources and distributors of information who are willing to reinforce the demonizing process because it is profitable, because it grants power and because it works. (4) Palisade all art forms; monitor, discredit or expel those that challenge or destabilize processes of demonization and deification.
The history of racism in the US is fertile ground for fascism. Attacks on the courts, the right to vote, women’s rights, education, [heath - care, and the squelching of campus protests] are but further steps on the path to toppling democracy. ~ From Jason Stanley, author of How Fascism Works Donald Trump has shown others what is possible. But the fascist movement he now leads preceded him, and will outlive him. Toni Morrison warned, it feeds off ideologies with deep roots in Ameri - can history. It would be a grave error to think it cannot ultimately win. ~ From Jason Stanley, “America is now in fascism’s legal phase”, The Guardian, Dec. 2021) This current oligarchical-driven march to fascism is nothing new and stems from the racist nature of our collective history. Toni Morrison recognized long ago how close we were to a fascist state. She knew all along by virtue of being a Black woman in America, a survivor of Jim Crow, and a student of Black history. At a 1995 con - vocation address at Howard University, Morrison outlined 10 steps necessary for fascist and authoritarian movements. Thirty years ago, her words were a warning; today, they remain more relevant than ever. Unfortunately, throughout the nation’s history, a fascist state has often been the norm for Indigenous people, Black and Brown people,
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36—PATHWAYS—Fall 25
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