By Julia Barnes
September 22, 2029
When U.S. President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ran in 2028, one of her oft-overlooked applause lines was her call for a truth and reconciliation commission to account for the country’s crimes during the Fascist Period. It showed that voters were hungry for accountability and consequences.
Understandably, when electoral victory led to secession, the administration and U.S. Congress have been occupied with rightsizing the new country and moving fast on a range of long-delayed policy priorities. But we shouldn’t abandon the promise of truth and reconciliation.
According to a recent Pew poll, 52% of U.S. citizens believe in permanent sanctions against the New Confederacy for the actions of the former Trump administration. While that is one tool in the toolbox, I still believe a fact-finding commission is in order, albeit one with a slightly different charge.
I believe a commission genuinely dedicated to truth and reconciliation would look at the former United States of America’s role in the Gaza genocide; the ethnic cleansing of immigrants; the worldwide deaths caused by DOGE cuts; the capture of our public institutions by corporate interests and billionaires; the atrocities of the Jim Crow era; the malignancy of the Supreme Court; and the human rights violations against indigenous and enslaved African peoples.
To rightfully reclaim our standing in the international order, our country needs to prove its dedication to the rule of law and to justice. A kinder, gentler federal government is not enough. We need to show to our peer nations that we can hold institutional wrongdoers accountable and do whatever it takes to give effect to the words “never again.”
Julia Barnes is an associate professor of global studies at Pennsylvania State University.
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