Following state elections in 1898, white supremacists moved into the US port of Wilmington, North Carolina, then the largest city in the state. They destroyed black-owned businesses, murdered black residents, and forced the elected local government - a coalition of white and black politicians - to resign en masse.
Historians have described it as the only coup in US history. Its ringleaders took power the same day as the insurrection and swiftly brought in laws to strip voting and civil rights from the state's black population. They faced no consequences.
The events of January 6th were perhaps the worst events in US history since then. Not Pearl Harbor, not 9/11 - while those were horrible, terrible, unforgettable events - at no point were millions of Americans cheering on the Japanese or the Saudis.
This was a direct attack on the Democratic process incited by our President and assisted by members of Congress and some members of the Capitol Police.
The President, his legal team, members of Congress, and the Right Wing Media all conspired to steal the election and to lay the groundwork for this insurgency. All of these people must be brought to justice before any kind of reunification can begin.
There were warnings and credible threats that this could happen and yet there was only a minimal Capital Police presence at the Capital and requests for reinforcements were denied by both the Capital Police and the DoD. There is a history of assigning a lower threat level to white domestic terrorists (despite them being responsible for 76% of violent attacks in the US) while assigning a higher threat level to African American groups despite them being less violent. This no doubt played a part here.
Ultimately, January 6th was the worst attack on America in over a century because it came from within, directly attacked the democratic process, was inspired by the sitting President, and frankly is being downplayed by the Republican party who pushed the lie that triggered it and continue to push that lie even after the terrorist Insurrection on the 6th.