Sebastián Hidalgo for Bates College Published on February 17, 2021 To Marshall Hatch Jr. ’10, the long painful moment in American history that is 2020 feels like Reconstruction revisited. Lately he’s been delving deep into the history of that period after the Civil War, “which at once was the highest high for African Americans,” he says, “and then the lowest low.” In that era, Blacks held seats in Congress and in Southern legislatures, but angry white Southerners inflamed racial tensions — chaos coupled with hope, American democracy at stake. “The question during Reconstruction was, ‘What kind of country do we want to be?’” Hatch says. And the question arises again today. “These are incredible times to be living in,” Hatch says. “But there’s a lot to be dismayed about.”