Race and the Capital Riot

thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building in an effort to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election.United States Senators and House members had to run for cover and hide as the insurrection became violent, with both extensive property damage and physical violence resulting in loss of life.Scholars of American democracy, elections, and racial/ethnic relations in the U.S. have argued that this event should not be viewed as a political protest that went too far.Instead, January 6th marked a significant departure from political norms related to the peaceful transition of political power, which the U.S. has observed since Reconstruction.This moment in American history, and the movement and ideology that kindled January 6th, deserve an in-depth analysis to unpack the theoretical foundations of the January 6th insurrection and what it signals for America's future.Many insurrectionists often publicly stated that they were motivated by so-called "voter fraud."However, there remains no evidence that widespread illegal voting activities existed in the 2020 presidential election.Where did the insurrectionists' ideas originate?How did they come to accept that the 2020 election was stolen, and who did they believe stole their election?Further, did other Americans beyond those directly involved on January 6th sympathize and support the insurrectionist ideology?The collection of cutting-edge research represented in this special issue of the Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics demonstrates that the insurrectionists, and their supporters, were specifically motivated to overturn the election because of their conspiratorial views on issues such as voter fraud.The overwhelming empirical evidence suggests these views were in turn closely related to conspiratorial beliefs regarding the political power that Blacks, Latinos, Asians, immigrants, Muslims, and members of the LGBTQ community held or sought to usurp from "true" Americans.Rather than an objective and fact-driven debate over valid or invalid ballots, the January 6th insurrectionists advanced messages of white supremacy, coupled with specific opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement, immigration from Latin America, anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiment, as well as negative

Ancient history · Criminology · Democracy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

• Race, Protest, and Political Ambition

  Open Access•N Lajevardi, Maria Mårtensson et al.•The Journal of Race Ethnicity and…•2026

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