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To the editor:

Is there a “providence” in what we witnessed on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in our nation’s capital?

In the mostly ceremonial process of the United Congress’s vote to certify the 2020 presidential election, what started out as Trump supporters protesting the election results, quickly turned into, what has been described by many as, a domestic terrorist attack. Did the President set the stage for violent conflict by urging protesters to “fight for me” and then falsely state he would be walking with them to the Capitol?

He certainly did not instruct them to be peaceful and avoid violence, and he neglected to condemn the violence when he realized what was happening at the Capitol. In fact, he had to be convinced to put an end to what he had instigated, telling the crowd, “We love you. You are special. Go home in peace.”

For weeks we have heard the many unfounded and false allegations leveraged by the current administration and its supporters against the election results. Despite the many failed court cases and states’ board of election challenges, which repeatedly supported the election results, the President and his supporters continued the baseless claims of election fraud, planting seeds of doubt in the election process, which is the cornerstone of our republic.

Our great democracy supports our right to “peacefully” protest and to voice our discontent. However, what our democracy does not condone is the violence and blatant disregard for law and order that occurred on Wednesday.

Proverbs 29:11 tells us, “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”

If the President, who claims to be a man of God, had followed this tenet, he would have urged his supporters to go to Washington and engage in “peaceful” protest.

In his prayer that closed Thursday morning’s joint session of Congress, Senate Chaplain Barry Black quoted Proverbs when he stated: “The power of life and death is in the tongue.”

Folks, words matter.

And without truth and trust, it is hard to maintain a true democracy. During this fragile time, let us all pray for, and work towards the kind of nation we can all be proud to be citizens of.

Davie County Chapter of the NAACP

Social Action Committee

Sharon D. Anderson, Co-chair, Bermuda Run