The staff of The Intercept analyzed the final, terrible televised confrontation between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
A candidate’s podium seen prior to the start of the third U.S. presidential debate at the Thomas Mack Center on Oct. 19, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
In the two prior presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, the closest we’ve seen was a question in the vice-presidential debate about “race relations” — specifically relationships between ethnic minorities and the police.
But the phrase “race relations” suggests that the root problem is a lack of comity between people of different racial backgrounds, rather than recognizing that the lack of comity is one symptom of a larger problem of racial inequalities and injustice.
Here’s some important facts about racial justice in America:
Discussion of these issues is mired in rhetorical landmines, and rubs up against many of the taboos of American political discussion. But it may be the “necessary trouble” that is needed to create an America where racial equality isn’t just a slogan but a reality.