Quote of the day

Struggling with complicated truths about what has made our ease possible is not a Trumpist thing. To some degree, it has often not been an American thing. As Kevin Levin, who writes the newsletter Civil War Memory, put it this week,

“For generations, the history of slavery and emancipation has been minimized, distorted, or simply written out of the national narrative by white Americans. The story of Juneteenth survived because Black families carried it forward, year after year, while the broader culture looked away or invented comforting fictions in its place.”

Trump and Vance are not interested in challenging any of those comforting fictions. They spend a good deal of time and effort weaponizing those fictions and turning them into grievances for their own political advantage.

But the rest of us can do what the Trump administration won’t do. We can engage in a struggle with complicated truths that makes possible a truer and deeper celebration of our history.

~William Kristol