2020 Race Obsession Haunts Democrats

In the early summer of 2020, Americans emerged from lockdown starved for social contact, commonality, and purpose. They were provided relief when the arrest-related murder of George Floyd ignited a social movement, and some of the most aggressive enforcers of the Covid-lockdown, social-isolation regime inexplicably endorsed joining that mass movement in the streets. What followed was a campaign of occasionally violent revolutionary agitation, in the name of Black Lives Matter. In that year, the “anti-racist” ideology that drew its strength from that movement made a variety of demands on Democratic lawmakers; those elected officials often consented to the demands. Today, they’re still paying for that lapse in judgment.

For example, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, signed a bill in September 2020 creating a commission composed of “a colloquium of scholars” to study the prospect of paying reparations to California’s black residents. Newsom contended at the time that Donald Trump’s presence in the Oval Office forced his hand. But he endorsed the measure because BLM activists demanded it, and he believed that his political prospects depended on their support. This week, the bill for Newsom’s acquiescence came due.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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In the early summer of 2020, Americans emerged from lockdown starved for social contact, commonality, and purpose. They were provided relief when the arrest-related murder of George Floyd ignited a social movement, and some of the most aggressive enforcers of the Covid-lockdown, social-isolation regime inexplicably endorsed joining that mass movement in the streets. What followed was a campaign of occasionally violent revolutionary agitation, in the name of Black Lives Matter. In that year, the “anti-racist” ideology that drew its strength from that movement made a variety of demands on Democratic lawmakers; those elected officials often consented to the demands. Today, they’re still paying for that lapse in judgment.

For example, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, signed a bill in September 2020 creating a commission composed of “a colloquium of scholars” to study the prospect of paying reparations to California’s black residents. Newsom contended at the time that Donald Trump’s presence in the Oval Office forced his hand. But he endorsed the measure because BLM activists demanded it, and he believed that his political prospects depended on their support. This week, the bill for Newsom’s acquiescence came due.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.