The 2010’s will likely be remembered as a flash point in American
political history, the legacy of which will probably take at least
another decade to fully understand. It’s a time period in which
politics not only defined American life but fundamentally changed it.
The very psyche of our nation has altered, and with it changed how we
both react to our culture and interact with one another. A decade
that began in the midst of two failing wars and the smoldering ruins
of economic collapse, also saw massive social change, the emergence
of celebrity politics, and violence in American streets. Here we take
a look back at the movements that defined one of our most turbulent
decades.
Marriage Equality
Still considered an unelectable taboo in politics during the 2000’s
the fight for marriage equality blew open in the early 2010’s. As
more states, began to recognize same-sex marriages national opinion
quickly begins to change on the subject. Adding to the national
discussion, then Vice President Joe Biden announced his personal
support for same-sex marriage on an episode of Meet the Press,
leading to President Barack Obama’s public statement of support in
2012. The Supreme Court would later make a constitutional case for
marriage equality, enshrining it as the law of the land and one of
the biggest civil rights victories of the 2010’s.
Tea Party
Beginning in the late 2000’s as a largely anti-tax, anti-war
libertarian movement tied to Ron Paul’s candidacy for President,
morphed into massive protest movement that far too often utilized
racism in the wake of the election of America’s first black
president. PAC’s and organized groups (often funded by the Koch
brothers) utilized the energy of the movement and shed much of its
original isolationist message instead turning it into a populist
electoral force steeped in bigotry, conspiracy theories and
ridiculous costumes. It culminated in the election of numerous right
wing congressmen, and in many ways laid the groundwork for the
election of Donald Trump in the second half of the decade.
Occupy
What began as a call to ‘Occupy Wall Street’, by the left wing
magazine Adbusters, became a year long global protest
movement. Inspired partially by the Arab Spring uprisings and
partially by student protests that took place in California in 2009,
Occupy would go on to dominate the political narrative much of 2011
and 2012. Largely a response to the Great Recession and the ever
increasing income inequality seen in America, the decentralized
movement would go on to address a nearly endless list of grievances
that often varied from one ‘Occupy’ encampment to another. Occupy
opened the door the re-emergence of left-leaning economic policy even
asmany bemoaned the protests lack of focus on electoral politics and
penchant for featuring many bemoaned the protests lack of focus on
electoral politics and penchant for featuring white dudes playing
hand drums. white dudes playing hand drums. many bemoaned the
protests lack of focus on electoral politics and penchant for
featuring white dudes playing hand drums.
Trumpism
The rise of Donald Trump to the Presidency was as certain to happen
as it was unlikely. The billionaire reality TV star utilized a toxic
mixture racism, xenophobia, raw anger and aspirational wealth to beat
a crowded Republican field and one of the most well known political
figures in the world for the Oval Office. His flirtations with
fascism and authoritarian tendencies terrified many but created a
solid, rabid base of voters in tiny red hats and inspired a wave of
ugly factional politics, that rivals the worst of America’s
political history.
The Return of Progressivism
While Trump developed his own cult of personality, the candidacy of
Bernie Sanders did something else with the Democratic Party. A new
wave of progressive Democratic candidates and activists emerged, no
longer happy with the center-left politics of the New Democrats, the
new progressives cover territory that ranges from Neo New Dealists to
self described socialists. The momentum behind them has reframed
acceptable political ideology in the nation with ideas like Single
Payer Healthcare, Reparations, Jobs Guarantees and even Universal
Basic Income all becoming mainstream.
Women's March
The now annual Women's March first took place the day after Donald
Trump's inauguration, a response to the horrifically sexist nature of
his actions, statements and candidacy, it became the single largest
day of protest in the nation’s history. Since then the organziers
behind the march have been criticized for everything from their
motives, to their connections to the Nation of Islam and allegations
of anti-semetism despite this the marches continue, globally.
Climate Strike
In 2018 Greta Thunberg launched her protest outside of the Swedish
Parliament, calling for a national day of protest. The following year
it kicked off a global movement with students walking out of schools,
and faculty trying to figure out how to best accommodate the protest.
It inspired countless other climate based protests and Thunberg was
subsequently named Time’s “Person of the Year
March For Our Lives
Generation Z has time and again shown themselves as an activist
generation rising to the challenges of their time in a way that
Millennials were never able to during the Bush years. The March For
Our Lives took place in 2018 and was organized and led by survivors
of the Parkland shooting. It made survivors like David Hogg and Sarah
Chadwick into recognizable faces and names and showed that the
politics of this era would at least in part, be influenced by the
young people policy would most directly affect.
Anonymous
While technically originating all the way back in 2003, the
hacktivist collective Anonymous became a household name in the early
2000’s. Addressing a myriad of different issues reflecting
political views across the spectrum, the group helped to uncover some
of the crass underbelly of American political and corporate life
while turning the Guy Fawkes mask into an instantly recognizable
symbol of protest and political resistance.
The Alt - Right
In the 2010’s Neo-Nazi’s were more likely to look like an extra
from a Brooks Brothers catalog then from American History X. The so
called Alt-Right spread and organized online before becoming an open
political force during the 2016 presidential election. Formed of
various far right ideologies and groups, the movement represented
much of the very worst of America. Defined by terms like white
nationalism and western chauvinism the Alt-Right will forever be
linked to both the Presidency of Donald Trump and the onslaught of
physical violence that began to occur in American cities. The
movement has begun to lose steam after the Unite the Right rally in
Charlotteville where violence shut the city down and claimed the life
of counter protester Heather Hayer. The movement will hopefully be
seen in the future as the dying gasp of America’s past sins however
now it is an unfortunate and dangerous reminder that hatred and
authoritarianism are still very much alive in our nation.
#Metoo
A cultural moment that revealed a horror show of abuses by titans of
industry, elected officials, and every day people. The ‘Me Too’
movement opened America’s eyes to the epidemic of sexual assault,
harassment and general misogyny that almost everyone had encountered
but no one spoke about. It forever changed the way we look at some of
the most well known and previously beloved public figures of the 20th
and 21st century and forced well overdue conversations about consent.
Black Lives Matter
Following the death of Trayvon Martin, a child shot to death
essentially for being black and wearing a hoodie, a seemingly
unending protest movement was born out of a hashtag. Forcing
attention on racism and police brutality, Black Lives Matter was
targeted and criticized by conservative media and pundits who often
attempted to use racist stereotypes and dog whistles to incite
backlash against the movement. The movement was met with counter
hashtags and statements such as ‘Blue Lives Matter’ and ‘All
Lives Matter’ that sought ot minimize the racial component related
to police brutality and the murder of black men by police in
American. Violent clashes between police and protestors in Ferguson,
as well as NFL player Colin Kaepernicks on field protests kept
attention on the movement while also changing the framework in which
it was discussed.
Alex Kack is blogger and career political hack living in the
desert, follow him on Twitter @Alex_Kack
Images from Wikimedia Commons
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