With protests in the U.S. now inspiring movements around the world, Charlie Sennott said on Boston Public Radio Monday that we might be at "a tipping point," on the issue of racial inequity in America.
The WGBH News analyst and GroundTruth Project CEO was quick to note, however, that it's unclear which direction we're tipping towards.
"If you think about those times of dramatic civil unrest, I have to step back and say what can feel like this enduring movement can turn out not to be,” Sennott said. "L.A. Riots — like, what did change? It didn’t really change much. Or even Tahrir Square, which felt like this hundred year event, overthrowing an authoritarian government in Egypt. But then what happened? It was restored.”
"I think,” he said, "while we’re on this incredible tipping point, there’s a lot of history we can bear to bring to the equation that can give us context around 'how do you really make change, how do you really sustain this movement and be sure we don’t slide back?’”
Black Lives Matter protesters have seen some signs of progress in recent days, the most significant being the Minneapolis City Council’s recently announced intent to disband their city’s police department. And here in Massachusetts, leaders like Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley have presented their own goals for reigning in police violence against Black people.
But Sennott warned that racial equity isn't the only crossroads the U.S. faces in this current moment. He also connected threats to "dominate" protesters from President Trump to a troubling rise in the president’s authoritarian impulses.
"I swear, this feels way too radical, right?” he admitted. "Like, this is a real lefty argument. Remember the series we did, Democracy Undone, last year, where we looked at the rise of populist nationalism around the world in places like Hungary and Brazil… India, and the United States of America.
“If we have a White House that starts to do things like [militarizing] the streets so that the president can have a photo-op with a bible,” Sennott said, "we start crossing into lines that, if they go unmet... are creeping toward authoritarianism, and you have to be worried."
