I will never forget the faces of the people I met during my time in the Peace Corps. They were resilient, hopeful and deeply committed to building better lives for their families. Yet, beneath that hope was a shadow of governments that no longer represented their people, of leaders who clung to power by silencing voices and rewriting the rules.
I watched countries lose their democratic footing not in one sudden collapse, but in a slow erosion: freedom of the press curtailed, judicial independence undermined, voting rights restricted and communities divided against themselves. These were not abstract political shifts; they were lived realities that weakened economies, stifled opportunity and destroyed trust in institutions.
That experience stays with me because today, in Indiana and across the United States, I recognize some of the same warning signs.
Fascism does not come with a single dramatic announcement. It creeps in quietly, through laws that suppress votes, through district maps drawn to silence communities, through rhetoric that demonizes neighbors and elevates division over unity.
Here in Indiana, voter turnout lags well below the national average. Our political maps are drawn behind closed doors. Our communities – especially Black and Brown Hoosiers – too often find themselves underrepresented in decisions about schools, healthcare, housing, and economic opportunity. These are the cracks in our foundation where authoritarianism can take root.
The fight against fascism is not just about protecting abstract democratic ideals; it’s about protecting people’s daily lives. When government no longer answers to its people, the consequences fall hardest on those who already face inequities: families struggling with access to healthcare, workers in need of childcare and training, and neighborhoods waiting for investment that never comes.
If we allow democracy to weaken, these inequities only deepen. That’s not the Indiana we want, and it’s not the future our children deserve.
Democracy is not self-sustaining. It requires vigilance, courage, and participation. As Hoosiers, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. We must demand transparency in how our political maps are drawn. We must hold leaders accountable when they undermine trust in elections. We must resist the normalization of division and disinformation.
As someone who has seen firsthand what happens when democracy falters, I say this with urgency: we cannot wait until it is too late. The cost of complacency is too high.
Indiana has always prided itself on common sense, fairness, and resilience. Those values are incompatible with fascism. They are the values of a people who believe in one another, who look out for their neighbors, and who demand leaders who earn their trust, not manipulate it.
The fight against fascism begins not in Washington, D.C., but here—at our kitchen tables, in our churches, in our neighborhoods, and at our polling places.
Because the promise of Indiana lies not in those who seek to consolidate power, but in the people who refuse to let that power go unchecked.
Angie Carr Klitzsch is the CEO of Women4Change Indiana, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Hoosiers to engage in democracy and advocating for equitable outcomes for women and girls in Indiana.
