, Columnist
U.K. and France Need to Reckon With Race
Paranoia about the spread of American-style wokeness shows just how central white identity remains to the establishments in both countries.
British leaders looked on U.S.-style protests with distaste.
Photographer: Isabel Infantes/AFP/Getty Images
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A new division has opened up within what used to be called the “West.” Divesting white supremacism of political legitimacy, the United States has begun a fresh reckoning with its past of slavery and begun to meaningfully acknowledge its demographic diversity.
At the same time, the ruling classes of both France and Britain are loudly recoiling from a similar self-examination, seeking to postpone their own urgently needed reconfigurations of national identity.