How to prepare for an increasingly multiracial America? Pay attention.

There’s plenty to learn from looking back, but our commentator points out that at critical junctures in history, like this one, looking even five or 10 years down the road offers a useful perspective – and reality check.

Philosophers, historians, and politicians have been asking a profound question of late. Are we living at a hinge of history, a moment of tremendous change that will influence the future of democracy in the United States as well as the fate of our species?

Myriad technological advances, a massive pandemic, climate...