I am old enough to know I don't have all the answers. I don't have the moxie to say I have all or even some of the questions. And I am puzzled by recent events.

We are fortunate enough to live in a quiet seaside village where last week's most important news story involved happy parents and their hopeful high school graduates. Congrats to the Class of 2020.

Our towns are protected by geography from today's drama playing on the streets of 100 or so American cities. Through the magic of hand-held devices, we watch street protests that pit today’s racial practices with our Constitutional rights.

In many ways, we are watching the latest battle of the terrible Civil War that cost us some 620,000 lives. For the last hundred years or so, some have argued that conflict was all about state's rights. They claim that slavery was just a sidelight to the entire conflict.

Of course, it was about slavery and a regional business model that depended on the labor of enslaved workers. One of the most lucrative pillars of that business model involved the buying and selling of people.

The 1860s turned our nation upside down as generals and privates fought and died at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. The war ended when a Northern army led by an Illinois general named U.S. Grant cornered Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia not far from Richmond. Acting on the suggestions of President Abraham Lincoln, Grant offered Lee a deal. Surrender, lay down your arms, go home, and observe the law.

In Ron Chernow’s celebrated biography of Grant, Lee said: “This will have the best possible effect upon the men. It will be very gratifying and will do much toward conciliating our people.” Nice sentiments, but unfortunately, not true.

Of course, while the official war ended with Lee's surrender, the unofficial war continued. Lincoln was shot a few days later. Vice President Andrew Johnson took over and fought all Grant's efforts to protect the former slaves. Southern whites, including former Confederate soldiers, couldn't stand the idea of former slaves voting, and the KKK was born.

Over the years, despite the 15th Amendment, we saw Jim Crow laws enacted that stripped black voting rights. In some cases, mass murder enforced those codes. You can look it up.

Schools were segregated until the 1954 Brown decision. That decision forced President Dwight Eisenhower to order federal marshals and troops to enforce it. In the 1960s, the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act began to erode the Jim Crow era.

Today's protests, held despite a pandemic, may be seen as another battle in the subtle and overt ways Americans treat other Americans. The sickening video of a cop putting his knee on George Floyd's neck until he died is a vivid metaphor for this struggle.

When will the protests end? Will everything change? Will the marchers, cops and public officials hug and go home? Don't bet on it. Many Americans have racial prejudice ingrained in their DNA. One sign of change is when white protesters chant “Black Lives Matter.”

On Sunday, an estimated 250 Boothbay neighbors gathered on the Boothbay Common in support of the protests.

Some data suggests these protests may be succeeding. Several police union organizations have condemned the officers in the Floyd slaying. Other police officers echoed their condemnation, some using street language.

On Sunday, the Boothbay crowd, led by Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett and Boothbay Harbor Chief Bob Hasch, knelt for eight minutes to honor the memory of George Floyd.

“I am saddened for the Floyd family. I am angry at the police conduct,” said Brackett.

Senior military and faith leaders condemned White House officials who challenged protesters. As political polls show public support for the protest, Republicans fear they could lose control of the Senate and White House. When the president visited Maine last Friday, GOP Sen. Susan Collins, facing her first serious challenger, did not accompany President Trump.

Our coastal communities are not in the middle of these protests, but that does not mean our friends and neighbors are not engaged. It does not mean they don’t care about race relations.

Stern New Englanders provided much of the backbone of the 19th-century movement to abolish slavery. Will today’s New England voters and their political leaders follow suit?

Our foremothers protested in the streets to convince our forefathers to grant them the right to vote. Will today's street protests change our nation's attitudes? Or will this be just one more battle in the American Civil War?

No one knows the answer. But, as we see our neighbors help one another during this time of pandemic and economic downturn, we can have hope.