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To say that this is a quarrel in which there is right on both sides, as there was in the Civil War (which Southerners still call, correctly, “the War between the States”), isn’t to excuse or palliate the racism (anti-Semitism, too), abusive language, and violence of the white supremacists, KKK, and neo-Nazis. I would suppose that the vast majority of Americans find all this disgusting, shameful, and alarming; a vile contradiction of the sentiments of the Declaration of Independence and of all that is understood by the idea of “the American Dream.” I doubt if these extremists can be curbed or silenced, because I doubt if they are amenable to reason.

But what of the other side? What of black America and liberal America? The first thing to say is that, whether they realize it or not, they have won the argument. The future is theirs. Only the past belongs to the white supremacists. They are losers, and it is the consciousness—unadmitted consciousness, certainly—of this that fuels their hatred and violence.

Black and liberal America should consider the epigraph that Churchill inserted in his war memoirs: “In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity. In peace: goodwill.” They have, as I say, won the war, intellectually and morally. It’s time for magnanimity and goodwill. Leave the Confederate statues where they stand. Let the Confederate flag continue to fly. They are part of history and should be recognized for what they are: emblems of defeat. They can do no harm to anyone who chooses not to be harmed by them.