This summer proved to Americans yet again that the Civil War, which officially ended 150 years ago, has never really gone away.
The Charleston, S.C., church shooting that killed nine in June sparked a national debate over racism and public displays of the Confederate battle flag; ultimately, the emblem of Dixie was hauled down in July from the grounds of the state Capitol in South Carolina, where it had flown for more than half a century. Officials in Texas and elsewhere have pondered what to do with monuments honoring Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders who have come to symbolize the nation's tormented history with slavery and race relations.