Langston Hughes wrote, “Fascism is a new name for the terror the Negro has always faced in America.” That line is often quoted, rarely examined, and almost never taken seriously enough. Hughes was not arguing that America suddenly became fascist. He was pointing out that Black Americans recognized the structure immediately because they had already lived under it.

White America’s sudden fixation on Nazi Germany whenever state violence becomes visible is revealing. When ICE raids intensified under Trump, many white Americans reached immediately for comparisons to 1930s Germany. They didn’t reach for enslavement. They didn’t reach for the Ku Klux Klan. They didn’t reach for Jim Crow. They didn’t reach for Native removal or Japanese internment.

The rebellion was originally planned for July 4, 1831. The date was deliberate. Turner understood the symbolism of American independence. Illness delayed the effort, and the group regrouped in August. On the night of August 21, Turner and six others began the uprising at the Travis plantation, where Turner was enslaved.

On May 31 and June 1, 1921, white mobs invaded Greenwood, one of the most successful Black districts in the country. Police disarmed Black residents defending their homes while deputizing attackers. Airplanes dropped incendiaries. Entire city blocks burned. More than 1,200 homes and businesses were destroyed. As many as 300 Black people were killed. Thousands were left homeless. No one was held accountable.