On August 12th, the anniversary of the fascist attack in Charlottesville which killed Heather Heyer, Jason Kessler and Richard Spencer will hold another fascist rally in front of the White House. This year, eight fascists are openly running for office in the United States. All of them are running as Republicans. Last week, America finally awakened to the horror of American police separating families and putting children in cages. Last week, America discovered these plans were laid more than a year ago. This morning, the Supreme Court upheld Trump’s travel ban on Muslim nations.

Facing such a gruesome reality, comparisons to Nazism have been rampant. In response, the same Republicans who once distanced themselves from Trump are distancing themselves from outspoken white supremacists. But if 2016 taught us anything, all it will take is the election of one such fascist, and conservatives will line up to offer their allegiance.

For the last year, I have warned about the rise of American fascism. Organizations like Turning Point USA speak openly about defending “white Christian America,” and even publish lists of suspected leftists online. My name has been published in one such list, and I have endured death threats as a result. Charlie Kirk’s tweets can be cataloged (as they are above) to check off the Holocaust Museum’s entire list of “warning signs of fascism.” And yet, in spite of it all, American media and the American people continue to treat these organizations as legitimate, and continue to defend their right to organize. Even in leftist circles, equating the “Alt-Right” with fascism is still decried as unfair and inaccurate. Cautioning against “alarmism,” many wish to protect the poignancy of the term Fascist.

Political cartoonist refers to immigrant children as trash.

In April, well before the news of family separations broke, Holocaust survivor Stephen A. Jacobs told Newsweek that “Trump’s America feels like Germany before Nazis took over.” Here is a man who has endured unspeakable horrors, and who has personal experience with fascism — and yet, his warning was largely ignored. America waited until families were ripped apart to speak out. And though the outcry has been great, I worry that our fear of alarmism will once against muzzle the voices of caution. If we wait for news coverage before fighting the tide of injustice, we will not stop fascism’s rise, but simply teach America’s Nazis to hide their aims until it is too late.

Facebook user refers to immigrants as “dogs” and advocates their genocide.

In my own home town, protests against family separation were met with arrests and death threats from “patriots” online. Indeed, all across the internet today, there are unabashed proponents of fascism. Even well known communities like r/The_Donald (a subreddit for the President’s supporters) are full of calls for violence against immigrants, the left, and anyone deemed “lesser.” And while Facebook and Reddit are quick to ban leftists for condemning rapists, they continue to defend the speech rights of those actively promoting genocide.

As many have noted, fascism is not new to the United States. Shrouded in white cloth and waving a confederate flags, America’s Nazis have escaped history’s condemnation. As they carried on this morning, the Supreme Court has a tradition of protecting unambiguously racist policies. Whether black families or native tribes, the American Empire has committed crimes that can never be forgiven. So my great fear is not that America will become fascist — in many ways, it has been cycling in and out of fascism since its induction. My fear is that we will learn nothing from that past, and allow these newest waves of white nationalism to erode whatever progress we have made.

America has struggled too long under the yokes of racism, theocracy, and fascism. Instead of allowing the poor to starve and the innocent to be caged, we must break these historical bonds and build a better world. Lead by the marginalized and unhindered by the timid, we must not surrender, we must not falter, and we must not fail.