A group of Trump supporters raided the Capitol on Jan. 6 to stop Congress from finalizing President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. This came after President Trump told his supporters to “stop the steal,” and urged them to head to the Capitol because he believed the election was stolen from him.

This raid will forever shape our country’s history because of the division it caused.

There is no hiding the political division between Republicans and Democrats after last year’s election. Many Republicans believe the election results were rigged in Biden’s favor.

Trump supporters have been told repeatedly by Republican politicians and Trump himself that the election was rigged. They hear this from so many people that they look up to that they start to believe it, even though it has been proven false time and time again.

However, by continuing to believe this and not accepting the election results, they are affecting future elections. People will be less likely to vote and accept election results in the future because they will think they’re all rigged. This could be very harmful to America’s democracy, which relies on people to vote in elections.

There was also racial division exposed at the raid. When Black Lives Matter protestors were peacefully protesting at the Capitol, they were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. However, when pro-Trump protestors showed up to the Capitol, they were allowed to breach the Capitol and even took selfies with Capitol police with little to no consequences.

George Floyd’s death was recreated and mocked on the front steps of the Capitol as hundreds of people watched and cheered below.

Confederate flags were brought into the Capitol for the first time. The Confederate flag is often debated between both political parties as to whether it is a sign of racism that mocks slavery or if it is a representation of patriotism. However, bringing the Confederate flag into the Capitol was extremely disrespectful and degrading to people of color.

Racism is present in almost every aspect of our country and it needs to change immediately. If it does not, America will never be able to attain peace and equality.

The last way this raid will impact our country’s history is through the number of lives lost and people injured. Four people were left dead and many were injured because of the violence that ensued. On top of this, multiple bombs were found around the Capitol. These bombs, if they were fully functioning and detonated, could have killed hundreds of people.

The Capitol raid will not be something that America can recover from quickly, and it shouldn’t. It needs to be talked about for years to come. We need to make drastic changes to our democracy. A raid like this should have never been able to happen in the first place. However, we can use it as a lesson to change the future.