When we studied 1930s Germany in history class, we learned that authoritarian regimes aren’t built overnight, yet, when we doodled in the margins – half-listening to lectures – we missed a crucial truth: no authoritarian government rises without first cultivating an authoritarian culture.

It starts with identifying an enemy – some group deemed dangerous, unpatriotic or a threat to what supposedly makes the nation “great.” 

That enemy becomes the scapegoat, the symbol of everything that must be purged.

Later, we learned about 17th-century America and the horrors of slavery. We were taught that the brutality of American slavery was unique: it was the only system built entirely on race. 

And in those classes where we learned the atrocities of history, we nodded solemnly, repeating the phrase we were taught to say – “Never again.” But here we are. And it’s happening again.

We’re watching a culture war unfold, one that dehumanizes under the guise of law and order. Hatred is cloaked in the word “criminal,” as if that label justifies cruelty.

 I don’t need to tell you who else was called criminals before being stripped of their rights, their dignity and their humanity.

When the president speaks of criminals supposedly tearing apart our country, the same country that immigrants built, he means those with a different complexion, those who look different from what his supporters see in the mirror each morning as they choose indifference over empathy. 

The rhetoric may be cloaked in patriotism, but its undertone is unmistakably racial. 

However, the president’s casually transcribed racist ideology isn’t new. It’s the latest thread in a fabric woven over generations, shaped by voters who consistently chose leaders and policies that reflect exclusion over inclusion.

And while the Government was shut down over health care debates, democrats point the finger at republicans who run the House, Senate, and Congress. Republicans point their fingers back at democrats, and immigrants. 

Democrats want to reverse some of the Medicaid cuts from earlier this year. Republicans argue that Democrats intend to use American tax dollars to fund health care for undocumented immigrants.

What we’re witnessing goes beyond health care policy; it’s the politicization of basic budgeting, redirected to place blame on Democratic officials and a marginalized group of people who aren’t even given a voice to be a part of the conversation.

We aren’t blind to the thousands of videos on the internet of masked ICE agents in casual clothes and blue jeans arresting people and shoving them in an unmarked van. 

We have seen agents attack civilians and the press when they know they are being recorded. 

This is the culture being normalized before our eyes. A culture where verbal attacks on those with whom we disagree are routine. Where people labeled “dangerous” are put in danger, where policy becomes a convenient mask for racism.

It’s the culture we were taught to fear. The ideology we were told Americans stood above.

We have held our red, white and blue heads above the water and watched others sink beneath the surface, telling ourselves, “That’s not us.” But the unbearable truth is–it is.

Authoritarianism doesn’t care whose front door it knocks on. It doesn’t discriminate. But it will arrive.

History wasn’t taught so we could forget it. It was taught so we could recognize it when it returns. Now it has, and the same Americans who fear their own freedoms being taken away are turning their heads while others are stripped of theirs entirely.