Let’s be honest, racism in America never disappeared. It was merely swept under the rug, left to fester in the dark until it spread, quietly but relentlessly, into the very fabric of our political system, our laws, and our institutions. By the time most people noticed, it wasn’t a resurgence, it was a deeply rooted rot.

And that rot isn’t confined to racism alone. It runs alongside bigotry, misogyny, and xenophobia, forces that have long shaped our nation’s policies and laws. These aren’t fringe sentiments either, they’re driving the agenda. Just look at what’s happening to Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected Democratic mayoral nominee in New York. The backlash he’s facing isn’t about policy, it’s about his identity. A Muslim, South Asian, democratic socialist, he is being targeted with Islamophobic and racist attacks that reveal just how deeply prejudice still poisons our politics.  I mean, look no further for more proof than at how they’re villainizing immigrants, setting up detention camps in alligator-infested waters, and working to dehumanize anyone who is different or dares to oppose them.

And until we name these forces, challenge them, and dismantle them, we’ll keep seeing bad actors like Trump and his enablers push us deeper into authoritarianism. In fact, we’re not inching toward it anymore, we’re already in its grasp. It’s control rooted in fear and fueled by hatred of anyone who was born different or dares to be different.

Democratic leadership needs to remember, this isn’t politics as usual. It’s a coordinated attack on our rights, our identities, and our future. We can’t wait for permission. We need to raise hell. Keep organizing, keep mobilizing and vote like everything’s at stake because it is. Complacency is how they won and how they’ll keep winning. Defiance and refusing to hyper-normalize this insanity, is how we fight back.