African-Americans Saved Democracy All Week Last Week

One of the most jarring images from last week's invasion of the Capitol was a video from HuffPost's Igor Bobic of a hopelessly outnumbered African-American Capitol police officer facing down a crowd of MAGA marauders and making a hasty withdrawal up a stairway:

Here’s the scary moment when protesters initially got into the building from the first floor and made their way outside Senate chamber. pic.twitter.com/CfVIBsgywK

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 6, 2021

Watching this footage, all I could think was, "Why is he alone, meant to guard this entrance without backup?" The reality of this footage is even more remarkable, the Capitol Police officer, Eugene Goodman, actually led the invaders away from the Senate chamber, delaying their attack enough to allow the Senate to escape:

This moment in ⁦@igorbobic⁩ stunning footage. In front of the officer, coming up the stairs, is a mass of rioters. The USCP officer glances to his left. Between those two chairs is the entrance to the senate floor. He lured them to his right, away from their targets. pic.twitter.com/knjQQ4GZ0d

— Kristin Wilson (@kristin__wilson) January 10, 2021

My admiration for the appropriately named P.O. Goodman is sincere... he used the ancient tactic of my beloved killdeer to protect those he was sworn to defend. It was a clever, risky ploy, and it worked. Kudos, good man! The sad fact of the insurrection is that, while it seemed that some Capitol Police dropped the ball or even sided with the invaders, African-American officers of the Capitol Police were subject to racist abuse from the Trump dead-enders. I've always been appalled at portrayals of Black Americans as being somehow 'un-American'... African-Americans have a loyalty to this nation, expressed in their disproportionate enlistment in the military and employment in civil service jobs, that is incommensurate with their poor treatment at the hands of government on all levels. Last week, African-American activists secured the Senate for the Democratic Party, breaking years of gridlock, and an African-American police officer secured the Senate from a bloodthirsty mob. Thankfully, the new acting chief of the Capitol Police will be an African-American woman who rose through the ranks and is currently Assistant Chief for Protective and Intelligence Operations. Last Wednesday was a failure of intelligence- Chief Yogananda Pittman doesn't come across as the sort of person who would ignore warning signs pointing to a white nationalist invasion of the Capitol.