The Illusion of Resistance

Recent reports claiming “multiple ICE raids” were repelled in Alvarado, Texas, are misleading... only one raid, on July 4, saw armed individuals ambush ICE agents and an Alvarado police officer, prompting serious investigation and charges. While viral posts exaggerated the frequency of these incidents, the violence cannot be ignored: attackers used fireworks and graffiti to lure officers outside, then opened fire... firing up to 30 rounds, injuring one officer in the neck. Ten suspects have been arrested on attempted murder charges, among 11 currently facing federal and state charges; a 12th suspect remains at large, and a Blue Alert has been issued.

Yet social media’s exaggeration perfectly exemplifies how heightened political tensions distort events. Claiming multiple raids when only one occurred only serves to inflame fear. To understand the outrage (and fear) online, we must look beyond sensationalism. These reactions are rooted in deep, enduring injustices: systemic racism, exclusion, and decades of oppression against Black and Brown communities in the U.S. That context helps explain why stories about ICE spark such intense emotional responses.

Ultimately, clicking “share” or typing outrage from behind a screen isn’t enough. When fear and anger are born of centuries-long inequity, they demand more than viral posts... they demand action, accountability, and structural change. 

Trump is a symbol of rising authoritarianism in America; he is not an aberration... but a predictable byproduct of over four centuries of systemic racism and sanctioned cruelty.

The current political climate, marked by division and hostility, is the inevitable consequence of a nation built on racial subjugation. Those who have benefited from, and perpetuated these systems now face a reckoning, one that requires more than aggressive rhetoric on social media. If meaningful change is to occur, it must be pursued through direct action and accountability, not hollow digital declarations made from the safety of home. 

European Americans now find themselves shocked and horrified by what they see, but this fear is not new. It is the same fear that has existed for generations... only now, it’s dressed in hashtags and shouted into the void of cyberspace. Rage typed from a couch, resistance whispered in tweets, and courage confined to comment sections will not alter the course of a nation sliding toward a darker chapter.

Yet history suggests that those most responsible for sustaining structural inequities are often the least willing to confront them in practice. Fortitude is not measured in keystrokes but in the willingness to dismantle the very systems that have long served as instruments of oppression.  

The path forward is neither simple nor comfortable, but it is necessary. Until there is a collective commitment to addressing the roots of racial injustice - rather than merely reacting to its symptoms - the cycle of fear, misinformation, and division will persist. The responsibility lies not only with those directly affected but with all who have inherited the legacy, and reaped the financial benefits of this nation’s fraught history.

The inevitability of a second American reckoning - a civil war of conscience - cannot be waged passively. It will require the mettle that has too often been absent from those with the most privilege to lose. 

Change demands more than words; it requires action, bravery, humility, and accountability; along with the resolve to confront uncomfortable truths. Anything less is surrender, dressed up as sentiment and will only perpetuate the very injustices that continue to fracture society.