At the Jan. 6 hearings, race isn't discussed much. Still, it's a central issue

Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., listens as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, July 12, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

In the opening moments of the Jan. 6 Committee hearings, Chairman Bennie Thompson drew a line across history, connecting the Lost Cause to the Big Lie.

“I’m from a part of the country where people justify the actions of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan and lynching,” Thompson began.

“I’m reminded of that dark history as I hear voices today try and justify the actions of the insurrectionists on Jan. 6, 2021.”