This morning on the subway I watched a young black woman give her seat to an elderly white woman wearing a stocking cap with two Confederate flags on the front. I have been replaying this moment over and over in my head trying to somehow justify it. The older woman looked homeless, maybe it was just a hat she found on the ground. You could see everyone around her trying to make the situation okay. She was friendly enough, asking the black woman's son--who was sitting to her left--whether or not he was on his way to school. He didn't want to answer her, so his mother did "Not today. We're going to the doctor." Asking the white man on the other side of her if he had enough room. He did. I watched each person take a moment before replying.