Are We Collectively Over The “Progress” Of Summer 2020?

You know, sadly, it can often feel that way.

You know, for a minute it did seem like George Floyd and COVID were going to combine to be a turning point. I’m not sure that happened. This summer will be three years after that supposedly-pivotal summer, and a lot of the same problems exist, and a lot of those problems are confronted with similar (predictable) arguments on each side of the ideological coin. To wit, consider this video essay from Charles Blow (a New York Times columnist) yesterday on CBS Sunday Morning:

Here’s the core issue with this video: while most of the points he makes are both salient and esoteric, the sheer fact that he discusses “America’s shame” instantly alienates a huge chunk of potential viewers who might get some small nuance from this. To those viewers, America is beyond reproach (“Move to China, ya fuck!”) and any references to its “shame” is cheap race-baiting points trying to be scored. This is a bit unique to American notions of patriotism, yes: