Although race and identity always have shaped U.S. politics, they reemerged four years ago with new intensity. In what was supposed to be Obama's post-racial America as the pivot point of the election, they became the unapologetic driver of Donald Trump's unexpected victory. But the reenergized forces that propelled Trump to the White House did not spring out of a vacuum. The crowd-pleasing candidate merely marshaled spirits unleashed half a century ago in what was a culmination of the so-called "Southern strategy," as the Republicans' pushed race and identity to the political forefront. In its fourth show of the season, a panel of nationally known voices discuss the role of race in American politics and how identity issues are shaping our daily lives.
