“Something that comes before and that shows what will follow in the future” is considered a harbinger. Harbingers are not intrinsically good or bad. Robins searching for worms in the yard might be harbingers of spring. Cool nighttime temperatures might be the signal of autumn coming. Storm clouds on the horizon might be the sign of an impending thunderstorm and the need to seek shelter. Either way, harbingers should be heeded as potential change and the call to attention for what is to come.
Tim Heaphy’s book, HARBINGERS: WHAT JANUARY 6 AND CHARLOTTESVILLE REVEAL ABOUT RISING THREATS TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, gives us a first-hand look at two significant events that are harbingers of things that have come and things yet to come. A respected lawyer and former US attorney, he oversaw the investigation into the riot in Charlottesville, VA in 2017 and was the chief investigative counsel for the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. Let’s briefly review these events before making some comments about the path forward.
- August 12, 2017 – a series of events in the spring and summer of 2017 culminated in the Unite the Right (UTR) rally in Charlottesville VA near the Robert E. Lee statue on August 12, 2017. The UTR group was a coalition of white supremacist and white nationalist groups. They came to provoke and provoke they did. An anti-rally protestor was killed when an UTR rally-goer drove his car into a crowd. A Virginia state police helicopter, surveying the rally and subsequently experiencing mechanical problems, crashed later in the day with two troopers killed. Three deaths, professed hate and civil unrest characterized the day in a usually tranquil university city. Tim Heaphy headed up a group that prepared an independent investigation of the events of the day. Inadequate preparation and inadequate communication amongst the city officials and multiple law enforcement agencies led to some unmonitored and uncontrolled activity. Our freedom of speech laws protected the hate speech from the UTR protestors, and a confrontation was inevitable when preparations fell short of the necessary steps needed. But we cannot lose sight of the primary problem – a group of people gathering to spread a message of hate, armed for potential violence, and relishing in the discontent that was sowed.
- January 6, 2021 – a large group of rioters attacked the US Capitol incited by our outgoing president. Refusing to believe the truth that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and responding to a series of provocations that were not based in fact, the crowd attempted to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power via the electoral college on January 6th. Over 1500 protestors were eventually convicted. The Select Committee’s work convincingly demonstrated the propagation of lies and schemes by the outgoing president and his followers, the preparation of Capitol rioters to wreak organized havoc, and the plan to interrupt the scheduled vote. The mischaracterization of these convicted rioters as patriots and their subsequent pardons are a travesty on the rule of law and a permanent stain on our democracy.
Now I know that some will take issue with my summaries above. Despite what some contend, both of these investigations were undertaken with integrity, independent of party politics. They were seeking to undercover the truth, establish accountability, and propose solutions to prevent such occurrences again.
The beauty of his book is the analysis of various factors that contribute to our current state affairs. Social media, law enforcement, social division, lack of social engagement, prevalence of hate, and frequent lack of accountability are all issues to be addressed if we are interested in preserving our democracy. I refer the interested reader to his proposed solutions. It is undeniable that the events on 8/12/2017 and 1/6/2021 are harbingers of a rising threat to democracy.
Heaphy rightly identifies that two main factors that afflict our society currently and by extension affect our children and their futures – anger and apathy.
- Anger – anger is the breeding ground for hate. Hate is a toxin in our society and negates kindness.2 Anger can be an unstoppable force when augmented with misinformation and disinformation. This negative force pulls at the loose threads in the tapestry of our society and disconnects the natural harmony that we should enjoy. It is said often but it so true that we are more alike than we are different. Anger erodes that common bond. Heaphy also notes a quote attributed to Nelson Mandela that “truth and reconciliation are the only hope for nations that are bitterly divided.” The same holds true for our current status as we strive to improve our lives, the lives of others and the life of our communities.
- Apathy – apathy is as corrosive as anger, and arguably, even worse. “A disengaged citizenry is a more insidious threat to democracy, and ultimately more destructive, than a large crowd of angry rioters,” Heaphy opines. By not voting, not learning about current events, or not participating in communities, we cede responsibility to others to do things that we might significantly disagree with and are counter to the best interests of all. Often, these actions (or more precisely, inactions) can allow the selfish actions of others to dictate the direction we are headed when the best interests of our children are not taken into account.
The purpose of this blog is not to shame those that participated in the events on 8/12/17 and 1/6/21 but to note that those events are significant negative harbingers of things to come unless we willingly become more active participants in our communities and become more actively engaged with our fellow citizens.
Letting anger and/or apathy become a part of our ethos will not serve us well. Disagreements can be tempered without anger. Civic involvement should replace apathy. Let us become positive harbingers of things to come. That is what we wish for ourselves, our children and our families. We should wish the same for others and our communities. Anger and apathy should become relics of the past.
- Heaphy T. Harbingers: What January 6 and Charlottesville Reveal about Rising Threats to American Democracy. Steerforth Press; 2025.
- https://mychildrenschildren.com/hate-negates-kindness/