Jan. 6 revealed how color-coded and racially charged language can be

On one side, the violent visuals of Jan. 6, 2021, insist that this horrific moment was about the denial of one of America’s most treasured ideals — the peaceful transfer of power. On the other, that it was an act of committed patriots desperately fighting to save their country. Bypassing its hard surface reveals that this terrible juncture was also about language. More importantly, it concerns an invisible relation between language and color that distracts from the true problem — how we are ever to reconcile such profound differences. Yet despite the pain and disillusionment felt by all, if we...