By Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, Contributing Columnist
As we march closer towards authoritarianism in our nation, we are reminded of the words of Frederick Douglass, “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those they oppress.”
In March of 2025, America, for the first time in 249 years, since the founding of our nation, was placed on an international human rights watch list. The Civicus Monitor, a research tool that publicizes the status of freedoms and threats to civil liberties worldwide, placed the United States on a list with Turkey, El Salvador, Siberia, Kenya, Pakistan, Indonesia, and several others.
This global alliance and network of civil society groups also includes Amnesty International. The list was reaffirmed in July of this year. According to Mandeep Tiwana, Civicus’ Secretary General, “The United States appears to be sliding deeper into the quicksand’s of authoritarianism. Peaceful protests are confronted with military force. Critics are treated as criminals. Journalists are targeted and support for civil society and international cooperation has been cut back.”
This penetration into the depths of an American autocracy can be seen and heard as both President Trump and his man-at-arms Stephen Miller continue to hint at the implementation of the Insurrection Act of 1807. The main purpose and provision of the act, “Empowers the U.S. President to deploy military forces and federalize the National Guard during certain emergencies within the United States.” It basically allows the President to declare Martial Law.
These days it seems that everything is an emergency. The implementation of tariffs on products from automobile parts to pharmaceuticals for the heart is an emergency. Shutting down government institutions, Department of Education, USAID, eliminating hundreds of thousands of federal workers (straight out of the notorious Project 2025), all seem to be an emergency.
It is exacerbated by forcing the Department of Justice to seek retribution by going after those on the President’s enemies list. Among them, Letitia James in New York; Fani Willis in Atlanta; James Comey, Former FBI Director; Senator Adam Schiff for his January 6 investigation of attacks on the nation’s capital; Lisa Cook, Member of the Federal Reserve; and Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Sending the military into Chicago (using Black Hawk helicopters over an apartment building), Memphis, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and threatening Portland and others with emergencies provides a justification for the President and Stephen Miller to send in the troops declaring a phony insurrection. State and local officials have said they do not want them, nor have they requested them.
General Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was threatened with execution as a result of his stand against such actions. Following the January 6 attack upon the nation’s capital, General Milley called his Chinese counterparts to reassure them that the United States was not under threat of an attack. President Trump said, “This is an act so egregious that in times gone by, the punishment would have been death.” General Milley reminds the nation, “We don’t take an oath to a King or a Queen or to a tyrant or dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we are willing to die to protect it.”
Members of Congress, whether Republican or Democrat, who enable the President to break laws and ignore the constitution need to remember their oath, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God.” While many have forgotten or ignored their oath to the people, they have willingly surrendered it to a President.
If America is to survive this hour it will take people from all walks of life – every race, every community, both male and female. Many will have to move beyond personal ideology to a more noble causality. It does not matter your party affiliation or faith. It must be about people coming together in unity from every vocation. Many are still upset and angry about the last election and how the nation got here.
We know who voted and who did not. We know who told others to stay home and to cast their vote for the man that currently occupies the White House. For those who say I told you so, okay, we get it. However that position still leaves us divided, angry, and unproductive. The cause is too great and the consequences for such a position is too dangerous.
Everyone is needed for this peaceful battle to reclaim the soul of our nation. Faith leaders must preach about it. Artists must sing, write, and speak for it. Teachers must instruct on the importance of it. Civil rights organizations must continue to organize, speaking boldly and loudly against it. Politicians must do their jobs and enforce legislation to redirect it. Universities and law firms must unite to stand firmly against it. Business, corporate, and labor leaders must support and caucus together, and use their resources to help support this cause.
In the end, if we stick together, we will get the victory because we as the people of America demand it. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “We didn’t all come over here on the same ship, but we are all in the same ship now.” Let us sail on until we reach that beautiful shore of dignity, respect and freedom to preserve our democracy. Only the people can save America from itself.
