Last summer, I had the opportunity to see the protests and painting of the Confederate statues in Richmond, Virginia. For me, this was the pinnacle of my own personal journey of reflection.
The protests gave witness to a long simmering struggle with race in our nation going back to the Civil War. For some, they want to bury and forget it.
While 165 years seem like a long time ago, recently a couple of events demonstrate how close it is. In May 2020, Irene Triplett passed away. She was the last person to receive a pension from the Civil War. She received $877.56 a year.