If progressive social movements are to rise again after the Trump-led backlash, they need to overcome not just their opponents but also their own limitations.
In September 2020, demonstrators defaced the statue of former prime minister Winston Churchill in Parliament Square in London as part of a Black Lives Matter protest. Getty
All revolutions face a backlash. A few years ago, Elon Musk and other supporters of Donald Trump started denouncing the “woke mind virus”. In 2023, the US Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action in university admissions was illegal. Right-wing activists began preparing legal warfare against companies with high-profile diversity initiatives.
Since becoming president, Trump has ordered an end to federal government diversity efforts, including some dating back to Lyndon Johnson, and may expel trans people from the US military.
