In the past week, America's most serious challenges have come into clearer view. At home, new research reveals the wide, multigenerational gaps in mobility and poverty between White and Black Americans. Policymakers hoping to close this chasm, however, are often picking up the wrong tools. By opposing greater school choice and introducing critical race theory into classrooms, Max Eden argues, many would-be reformers are likely to only make racial disparities worse.

Meanwhile, restoring bipartisan trust in our election system took on added urgency this week as Democrats lamented Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-WV) opposition to the For the People Act. But the bill's failure may be for the best. As John C. Fortier writes, the rejection of the act's overly broad proposals should open up space for better reforms accepted by both parties. Only through finding bipartisan consensus at the federal and state levels will the next round of voting reforms succeed.

Abroad, Michael Beckley sounds the alarm that America is not ready for a war with China. To change course, Beckley writes, the White House must explicitly and repeatedly order the military to focus on deterring Chinese aggression and downsize its other missions. If the United States does not seize this chance to secure its military advantage, he warns, we may not get another.

Finally, as America's leaders gear up to confront tomorrow's challenges, there is still work to do  to put an ongoing trial behind us. In Bloomberg Opinion, Michael Strain interviews Scott Gottlieb about America's impending victory over the COVID-19 pandemic. "I think we can declare a near-term victory," Gottlieb says, but not yet unconditional success. "This is going to go from a pandemic phase to more of a seasonal phase, where this is likely to come back every winter."