Will This Be The Moment Of Reckoning On Race That Lasts?

In 2020, things happen that never happened before. And right now, they seem to be happening all at once.
Atop a global pandemic and resulting recession, May and June have given us another dimension of head-spinning events. Following two weeks of widespread street protests after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, a change of attitude seems to have swept through the national culture like a sudden wind.
Long-controversial statues of Confederate Civil War heroes and other divisive figures have been smashed, beheaded or pulled to the ground. Where they still stand, elected officials and courts are weighing their future anew. Where they are down, few would expect them to rise again. The spontaneous action of the unlawful may prove as lasting as the legal steps of officials.
Action as dramatic as sledgehammers on bronze was sure to dominate the story on TV. But perhaps more stunning was the prospective absence of another Southern icon. The Confederate flag has been banned from NASCAR races, where the banner has been so common as to be emblematic. The change was proposed years ago but rejected.