Suddenly confronted with the enduring realities of racism in our time, white Americans are looking back at the history we have too often forgotten — and the ways that our amnesia has distorted the nation's culture. Now we have arrived at a time for remembrance, and reckoning.

Perhaps the most damning proof of our neglect over the past century or more are the flags, monuments and other remnants of the old Confederacy displayed all over the country. While the pressure of the moment is prompting institutions as diverse as universities, city governments and even NASCAR to remove those stains from our public life, the usual suspects are defending them, led by President Donald Trump, the clown who proclaims his superiority to Abraham Lincoln.