Back in the early summer when white people were suddenly realizing that the US has, you know, a certain malign track record, i asked what spurred their epiphanies.

Of the hundreds of responses, nearly all mentioned Trump. The Great Awokening was always a flimsy, cynical thing. https://twitter.com/lisastark351/status/1317986793426505728
People disliked Trump. They were holed up in their houses, maybe feeling unease about their financial situation or their safety.

state violence against Black people was a ready, accessible way for them to channel their outrage.
It’s pretty clear now that they might have latched on to anything they saw as sufficiently unjust.

We asked back then: if Trump is the thing fueling their anger, what happens to all this newfound activist energy if he’s no longer around?
We’ve already seen a dampening of white support for the movement for Black lives — how could it ever be sustainable when they don’t know any Black people? If it was never really *about* Black people?
(“The Great Awokening” is @nprAudie’s coinage, btw. All praise.)
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