CHANGE: “In Competition for Black Votes, Sanders and Clinton Offer Raw Rhetoric on Race”

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have begun speaking about racial disparities in America in very blunt terms, talking about themes of entrenched racism in ways arguably more aggressive than any Democratic presidential candidate since Jesse Jackson in 1988. Their raw rhetoric on race is revealed as the competition for black voters in the Democratic presidential primary has quickly become the focal point of the contest as it heads into states with a large percentage of African American voters.

Clinton met with a host of leaders in the African American community Tuesday and delivered a speech on race in Harlem, where she discussed “racial injustice” and “systemic racism.”

Pithy (and true) remarks about “all the racial healing” aside, there was a time when Clinton felt confident enough about her support from the black community that she didn’t have to pander so blatantly.

That time was about a week ago.