What we are seeing in Minnesota right now has become a clarion call. This is no longer about political differences; this is a battle for civil rights, human rights, and most of all, our American rights. What the Trump Administration is doing by murdering citizens protesting in the streets of Minneapolis is authoritarian fascism courtesy of the United States of America. It’s not new. Since its inception, Americans from marginalized communities who fell outside of mainstream white heterosexual society have fallen victim to federal oppression and unjust policing. Our nation’s history has shown that ICE is marching in the steps of the slave patrols, the KKK, Stonewall, and decades of union busting to enforce a status quo that benefits a very few wealthy white men at the top.
Meanwhile, the value of the US dollar and our economy around the world are in freefall due to Trump’s disastrous tariff policies attacking our long-term allies and trade partners and disrupting markets. The rest of the world can see what he is doing; how he used military force to abduct the Venezuelan head of state to attack and steal oil tankers, stashing millions of dollars of profit away in private and untouchable banks in Qatar.1 How he has threatened to take the land – and resources - of Greenland, despite it being a territory of our ally Denmark, even though he back-pedaled in the face of united opposition from allies last week in Davos, and unprecedented military mobilization by NATO forces. Most recently, he has signed an executive order to punish trade partners of Cuba to force regime change there to suit his imperialistic goals.3 He continues to harm our relationships with Mexico and Canada, openly courting Alberta to separate and join the US, despite Canadians’ overwhelming national desire to distance themselves from the USA.4
All of this while he continues to use ICE and the military to invade blue cities and terrorize the citizenry, openly threatening to use the Insurrection Act to shut down the midterm elections to maintain his power. He is using the justice department to punish and jail his enemies, including journalists like Don Lemon, arrested today, and military leaders who dare to stand up to him.
There is no doubt, we have entered an era of open American fascism, and the destabilization, fear, and uncertainty this brings are showing up in churches, workplaces, schools, and for those of us who provide therapy, increasingly in sessions with our clients. One problem is that so many Americans are uneducated or willingly ignorant about the rights we are in danger of losing. Trump is infamous for saying he loves the poorly educated. One of the only consistent threads in all of Trump’s schizophrenic policies is that he is doing his best to institutionalize racism and sexism, and this appeals to many on the right. Secondly, he is lining his own pockets and those of his donors through blatant corruption. Finally, through the mental control he has on his followers, increasingly upheld by a media sphere of pro-regime propaganda, he is creating his own reality and demanding that we doubt our own. The scariest part for many of us is witnessing all the people we know, family members, old friends, neighbors, who, no matter what, agree with this alternative reality. They twist themselves up in knots to defend the indefensible, repeating supplied talking points fed to them by Trump, his handlers, and the media that fly in the face of what we have witnessed on video or heard on audio recording to the contrary. They deny the testimony and facts laid out by experts on any topic, testifying to the illegality, corruption, and hypocrisy of actions. They continue to believe whatever he wants them to, even if it flies in the face of their own reality at the grocery store, their own neighborhoods or in their families’ lives. Verifiable facts, truth if you will, are an enemy of fascism. As is freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, freedom of religion, and freedom in general.
For many ministers, counselors, and other helping professions, it is very important that we examine ourselves at this dire time. When it comes to honoring our professional requirement to do no harm and be available to those we serve, regardless of their political beliefs or background, what is the ethical thing to do? According to the APA Guidelines, as a mental health counselor, we are to avoid imposing our values, attitudes, and beliefs on our clients or turn them off with any perceived agenda. However, in life, politics, and in our careers as helping professionals, we have to know where we stand. As political consultant Michael Madrid said today on the Left Hook with Wajihat Ali, “It’s not enough to stand against something, we must stand for something.” This statement can serve to move us forward with confidence to find common ground, even with people who may be on different political sides than us. We can stand in our values of veracity, dealing truthfully with our clients, while also promoting social justice. We need to be clear on what our values are, as well as our biases, while remaining curious and open. I must ask myself, “What do I believe when it comes to another person’s human rights? Does it conflict with what this person in front of me believes? What do I believe is the morally correct stance? Can I continue to serve this person if they don't agree?” Politics isn’t a reason not to serve someone, but I realize that I may not be the right counselor for every person who comes to see me. They have the freedom to choose as well.
Finally, if my beliefs for human rights, life, and dignity supersede my role as a minister or counselor because I fear that if I don’t speak up, someone can be seriously harmed, I need to have the courage of my convictions. What we are seeing with the escalation in Minneapolis and the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, along with the sexual abuse of prisoners at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX5, and the unlawful arrest of countless migrants, are human rights abuses. With the details of the traumatizing abuse of children like preschooler, Liam Ramos, who is only one child of many, coming out6, the tide is turning. If we are to grow and move forward as a society, it is time to take a stand now, today. Waiting for the midterm elections will be too late.
Does that mean that I have to lecture my conservative clients about this? No, but I can acknowledge with them that their own fears may be allowing this atmosphere of oppression to fester and explode. We can agree on our shared discomfort. As with any thought distortions, I can work with cognitive restructuring to help them find peace through this social unrest as well. Unless someone is a true sociopath, most Americans are longing for more common ground, more peace, and the economic security to provide for their families with a stable future. As Americans, we have to ask ourselves whether we want to have a society that truly is peace and justice for all, or have it continue to be only that way for a select few?
Where this is all heading? Most on the left feel the only way forward is by shutting down the economy with a general strike. This will affect the moneyed rulers who appear completely indifferent to the worldwide impact of Trump’s fascist cruelty, where it hurts, in their wallets. Don’t stop at a No Kings Protest, (Now scheduled for March 28, 2026); but stop working and consuming, in order to use our collective economic power to demand change. There are many more of us than them. The two-party system, the justice system, have thus far has failed to have any impact on this rising fascism, which really does leave only “We the People.” This may be seen as a radical act, but these are radical times. In the past, general strikes have been very effective. Back in the 1930’s, organized labor strikes crippled industries, cities, and small communities. Then, union workers from a variety of industries came together to strike against unjust, corporate control and abuses. Corporate overreach has historically been oppressive to working people and intersectionally, to women, children and people of color. Americans often take for granted the benefits that many people in the past came together to fight for - who paid for them with their lives. As Sylvia Woods, a striking laundry worker and union organizer said, “You have to tell people things so that they can see. Then they’ll say, ‘I never thought of that, or I have never seen it like that.’ In Tennessee, I know a man who hated black people, a poor sharecropper, but he danced with a black woman. I have seen people change. This is the faith you have to have in people.7” Through united action, people can change their thinking, even in times of crisis and rebellion. These times were just like today. Helping people change the way they think about dysfunctional behavior, whether it be personal or societal, is the work we in the helping professional community are uniquely qualified to do.
