Protesters are being menaced and shot by heavily-armed right-wing militias over the removal of racist statues across the country. Where does this eruption of violence stem from?

The answer lies in the rise of far right groups that are armed to the teeth — this is the U.S. after all, where we love our guns more than we love our children, so of course they are. These groups seem increasingly prepared to take their fight against liberal democracy (small “l,” small “d,” in the classic sense) to a new and far more violent level even as a large majority of the people move toward finally confronting the nation’s blood-soaked racism, both past and present.

Earlier this week, racial justice activists in Albuquerque were looking to deliver a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate to the same fate as the statues of Confederate “heroes” […]