The question "How did we get here?" is one that is not only overwhelmingly frustrating to answer but it can be depressing to explore. The phrase "Right intentions, wrong directions" not only fits but is the absolute truth.
We have to explore our history, the dark, the dirty, the parts we are not only NOT proud of, but also the parts that make our hearts burst with pride. We have to investigate the motives of those that would change our history, as we all have heard the phrase "If we deny our past, we are doomed to repeat it" whether or not we embrace that idea or not. Are the motives of those that belong to the group that want to suppress or change our history have our best interests at heart? Do they sincerely believe that denying our past will result in a better future? Or, more frightening do they hope that by NOT celebrating our successes over our past we will be more likely to tear down our Democracy?
There was a chapter title in a book long forgotten that was called "A Shared Madness". As we read the headlines, watch the news, see cities burning, and people performing acts of violence and hate against those they disagree with, it seems clear at least some of us have a shared madness in these actions. If we give in to the idea we must destroy statues, rip up large sections of our history, teach our youth that our history is a racist one, ban classic literature like "To Kill a Mockingbird", put warning labels on movies like "Gone with the Wind", will we not wake up one day and realize we were misled?
It would be too easy to place the blame on any one politician or political party because we have all had a hand in allowing the current state of civil unrest. Our complacency has had a part in it. The belief that "someone else will take care of it" or "That will never happen in America" has been sadly erroneous. Before some of us knew it, we're in the thick of it - violent mobs angry at everything they see that appears to them to be oppressive are running amok in our streets. The newly invented "Cancel Culture" has had statues torn down that reminded us of where we came from and how far we've come, major league sports teams scrambling to rename themselves to not be "offensive", renamed products or repackaged them even though they have had a generational appeal to most of us simply because companies are now afraid that the smiling face of Aunt Jemima is a racist trope designed to oppress Black Americans. We can no longer sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or Santa Baby because it will offend SOMEONE.